Hiding my heart
by chuckaddict
Summary: Chuck and Sarah meet in high school and become friends, but one day, she leaves without explanation. They meet again eight years later, when some unexpected events bring them back together.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** so this is my first _big project_. It's an AU, but with lots of similarities with the show. I know it's been done before, but hopefully it will be fresh and different too. And I promise, no one's going to Greece (pun intended).

This first chapter is more like a prologue and it happens years earlier than the actual story. Turns out that Chuck and Sarah met in highschool. Oh, I know, **TakeItTo22** has written something like that, but first of all: this is not a highschool fic, I repeat, this is **not** a highschool fic and there's no vigilante Chuck for sure. I reckon there are over 2600 stories about Chuck in the site and some stuff is bound to repeat. I just want everybody to know that I haven't read them all and I don't like _stealing _other writer's ideas.

One last thing: if you've read my other fics or my profile you know English is not my first language so I may make some mistakes. Feel free to correct them, for it's the only way to learn. And of course, I don't own Chuck or Adele's song.

_**Prologue **_

_**1996 – Burbank, California**_

Sixteen-year-old Chuck Bartowski rushed through the dessert hallway, his brown curls bouncing uncontrollably in his head. He was late. Again. He had overslept after a night of intense gaming with his friend Morgan. The only sound he could hear was the one his back Chucks made against the slippery floor. He sprinted and finally reached his classroom door. Panting, he got in.

The history teacher stopped talking, looked at him and said "Late again, Bartowski. It's the third time in two weeks".

Chuck just nodded and went to sit in his usual desk. He noticed that the one next to him, usually empty, was now occupied by someone. More specifically, by a girl. A blonde, blue-eyed girl. He smiled friendly at her and whispered "Hi!", but she didn't return the smile or the greeting, so he just took his stuff out of his backpack and pretended to listen as the teacher continued with the boring lecture of the day.

It wasn't that he didn't like school, because he did, but he was having a rough time lately. He had been very depressed for the past weeks, since the anniversary of the day his mom had left was approaching. Ellie, his sister, was determined to celebrate what she liked to call "Mothers Day", even if it was in October.

Time seemed to go by slower than normal as he let his mind wonder. Finally, the bell rang, announcing it was lunch time.

Chuck walked into the cafeteria. Morgan was nowhere to be seen. He had just probably skipped class again. His mom was cool, but Ellie wouldn't have any of that and forced him to go anyway. As he waited for his food, he spotted the blonde girl sitting alone in a secluded table. He wondered what was her deal. He'd tried to be nice to her, but she wouldn't even look at him.

He started to approach a table where some of his friends from the comic book club were eating, when he saw a group of football players gathering around the girl. She didn't seem very happy, and when all of them, except her, started to laugh hard, he knew what was going on. They were making fun of her, in her first day of school.

Being a nerd, Chuck had had to deal with bullies in regular basis, but right after he started highschool, things changed. Of course, making their homework had something to do with it, but it was worth it for as long it would spare him and Morgan a life of torture.

So he knew first handed what was like to have someone laughing at you. He left his tray on his friends' table, mumbling "Be right back" and went to the corner of the room, where the girl was now surrounded by a bigger group of laughing football players and cheerleaders.

"Excuse me, guys" he said, raising his voice a little.

"Hey, nerd, you came to join the party?" asked Cliff Hudson, a big blond guy.

Chuck glanced briefly at the girl, who was silently looking at him.

"Actually, no. I came to ask you guys to give my friend here a little space. It's her first day at school and she's a little shy".

"And I should care because…?"

"Because your father wants you to go to college and god knows you can't pass chemistry and math without my… help" turning to his right, and glancing at a big dumb-looking guy, he added, "The same goes for you, Davis". The guy gave him a look that made him swallow hard, but he didn't cave.

Finally, Hudson said "Let's go, guys, let the nerd and the ugly duckling here make out and plan how they're going to raise their ugly nerd babies".

With one last laugh, the group left.

Chuck looked at the girl at the same time she looked at him and they just stared at each other for three awkward seconds.

She was the first to break eye contact. Blushing, she mumbled "Thank you".

"No problem" said Chuck. And, before she could say anything else, he left, leaving her with a disappointed look in her face.

Of course he didn't want to have anything to do with her. He had been nice at class and she hadn't even said 'Hi' to him.

She looked down at her food. She had no appetite anymore. She just wanted to go back to the hotel and cry herself to sleep. She didn't even want to be in that stupid town in the first place, but her father had said that this job was a piece of cake, so she had finally agreed to move for the fourth time that year.

Of course, that kind of life didn't allow her to make any friends, 'cause they never stayed in the same place for a long time. Being the daughter of a conman didn't exactly make her social life any easier. And, if she was honest with herself, she was sick of it. She was sick of being the weird kid who eats alone and has no friends at school. She was sick of moving around and haven't been able to make one real connection with a person for as long as she could remember. And she was also very, very mad at her dad for being so selfish and force her into this life.

She was lost in thought when she felt someone sit in front of her. When she looked up, she was met by the kindest, warmest brown eyes she'd ever seen. Her surprise must've been written in her face, cause his huge grin faltered a little while he introduced himself "Hi! I'm Chuck, Chuck Bartowski".

After a moment of hesitation, she said "I'm Jenny".

He smiled again as he jokingly asked "Do you have a last name, Jenny?".

She gave him a small grin and said "Burton. Jenny Burton".

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jenny Burton", he solemnly said.

For whatever reason, she found that amusing, and, before she could help it, a soft chuckle left her throat.

He smiled brightly at her and, pointing to her untouched food, he commented "You should eat that before it gets too cold and completely inedible".

"That bad, uh?"

"Oh, you have no idea". He took his fork and stole some mashed potatoes from her plate. He slowly put it in his mouth and, faking a shiver, he swallowed and said with a strangled voice "Horrible".

She laughed at his antics "That's funny"

"Well, I'm a funny guy" he winked at her.

"Clearly. That's good, I don't get to talk with many funny people". The words left her mouth before she knew it. She wanted to kick herself. As if he needed another reason to think she was totally lame, with that ridiculous haircut, those braces and her old lady clothes.

He was going to ask why, but he could see a flash of embarrassment cross her eyes after what she'd just said, so, instead, he decided to make small talk.

"So, Jenny, it take that you're new in town" he gave her an encouraging smile.

She returned it with a shy one of her own, truly grateful that he had changed the subject. She wasn't completely comfortable, though, cause he was now asking personal questions, and that meant she would have to lie to him, and she really didn't want to.

"Yes, we just got here"

"You came with your family?"

"Actually, it's just me and my dad. He had a job… offer and he had to take it".

"That's cool. So, how do you like it in here so far?". She could see he was completely relaxed, eating his food and paying attention to everything she said. It was kind of nice being able to just hang out with someone for a change.

"We got here two days ago, so I haven't really left my… house yet". Under no circumstances she would admit living in a hotel room. "As for the people…" she glanced to where the football players were sitting "I guess they're just like everywhere".

He noticed her sad tone and said "You shouldn't hear what they say, you know? They're jerks!"

She gave him a small grin. The sadness he saw in her eyes moved him. This girl was hurting and not only because of those bullies.

"And, for the record, I think you're pretty". He didn't know where that had come from, and when he realized what he'd said, he blushed furiously and tried to hide his red face behind his glass of water. She looked at him with wide eyes, completely surprised by his words. She knew he was just trying to be nice, but nobody had ever told her that "I know you don't mean that, but thanks anyway".

He put his glass down and stared directly at her eyes. Blushing again, but still looking at her, he told her "I do mean it. And if people can't see that, I'm sorry for them. Look at you! You have beautiful hair and even more beautiful eyes. In a couple of years, when you take those braces off, you'll look exactly like Vicki Vale."

"Vicki who?" she was still shocked by his words, but she had never heard that name before.

He blushed again and blurted out "That's uh… that's from Batman. Vicki Vale is this totally cool chick who works as a reporter and is totally hot. In fact, rumor has it the comic book character was based on Marilyn Monroe…" seeing she had obviously no idea what he was talking about, he apologized. "Sorry, sorry… I tend to get a little too excited when it comes to comic books. I guess I really am a nerd" he finished with a small chuckle.

She smiled shyly at him and said "Thank you, Chuck. For everything".

"Hey, seriously, don't mention it. Just promise you will remember me when you're a supermodel or something…"

She blushed but laughed at his words. She felt much better after talking with him.

"I promise, I will remember you". Oddly enough, she meant it.

"Good, then we're even".

Lunch time was over and Chuck noticed the cafeteria was almost empty.

"Crap! We're gonna be late for class!". They picked up their stuff and rushed through the now crowded hallways.

After that, Chuck and Jenny became best friends. They shared some classes, had lunch together and hanged out every day after school. Sometimes Morgan would join them.

Chuck taught her everything she needed to know about comic books and video games, and lent her his favorite books. She especially liked _The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy_. Then, he proceeded to make her watch all the must-see movies she hadn't seen yet. Although she didn't like all of them, Jenny was having the best time of her life, finally being able to call someone a friend.

It was a week before Christmas and they were on vacation. She and Chuck had agreed to spend the 24th together, and he was planning on finally introduce her to James Bond. She was lying on her bed, watching tv when her father came through the door, looking ecstatic.

"Hey honey! You'll never guess what happened today! The guy finally agreed to make the deal, so in just a few days he'll transfer the money to 'Mr. Liechtenstein's' account".

Jenny winced. Once his father had the money from the con, they would leave, just like they always did. That meant she would never see Chuck again.

"Honey, did you hear me? We're just days away to be rich!" Jack was overjoyed and didn't seem to see the dark expression on her daughter's face.

"That's great dad" Jenny tried to feign enthusiasm, but she didn't do a very good job. Luckily, his father was in his own world, so he never noticed.

It was finally a day before Christmas and they were watching _Goldfinger_ in Chuck's living room. Even when it was one of his favorite movies, he couldn't enjoy it because he felt something was wrong with Jenny. She had been weird the whole week, but every time he asked, she said everything was fine and changed the subject. He wondered if he should ask her again, but didn't want to pressure her.

When the movie ended, he wanted to know the verdict "So? How awesome was that?". She smiled at him and answered "It was pretty good, although all that spy stuff was quite unbelievable…"

"Jenny, the movie _is_ about a spy. And I bet that's how they are in real life. Total badasses, fearless, and they get to drive those amazing cars…" she chuckled as he kept naming all the cool things spies could do or have.

It was getting late, so she said "I guess I should go now before it gets dark, I don't want my dad to worry"

"Oh, sure, sure… I guess I'll see you in a couple of days then?"

"Yeah, of course". She sure hoped so.

They were almost at the door when Chuck said "Wait, I almost forgot… I uh, I got you something. Wait here" and with that, he ran towards his bedroom.

He came back a few minutes later hiding something behind his back.

"Now, you know you're not supposed to open this until tomorrow morning, so promise me you'll wait"

"Ok, I will" she was still taken aback that he had thought about her and got her a present. She hadn't got him anything. "I uh… I forgot to bring yours, so I'll give it to you in a couple of days" that would give her time to get him something. If she was still in Burbank by then.

"It's ok, you didn't have to get me anything. But I really wanted you to have this" he said, giving her the gift.

"Thank you, Chuck" she started to walk through the door and suddenly, she turned around and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Blushing a little, she told him "Merry Christmas" and with that, she left.

It was the last time Chuck Bartowski saw Jenny Burton.

The next morning, he found an envelope with his name at the door, and when he opened it, he saw a picture of them at the arcade, taken by Morgan one Saturday night. He turned it around and read the few words she'd written. One tear made its way down his cheek.

She was gone.

**A/N:** and that was all for now. I have to study a lot this time of the year, but I'll try to update at least once a week. Also, I'm not very happy with the title, so it may change. If you have any ideas, please, don't hesitate in letting me know.

And please, whether you liked it or hated it, leave an honest review. It means a lot.

Until next time.

_Coming next:_

_Ellie is right. I'm a mess. I can't go on like this anymore. I have to do something with my life_. He knew leaving Stanford and everything it came with behind was going to be tough, but in that moment he made a decision: it wasn't going to determine his life anymore. From that moment on, Chuck Bartowski was going to be a new man. And the first thing he was going to do, was getting rid of that ridiculous beard.


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: **First of all, I want to thank you for the incredible feedback. I seriously didn't expect it and I kind of freaked out a little there, but now I'm ok. Thank you for the reviews, the story alerts, the author alerts and favorites.

Ok, so this is the first chapter of the story. I was going to publish this tomorrow but I finished it earlier, so I thought, why wait? No Sarah for now, 'cause I felt the need to write a whole chapter to explain where each one of them were at this point of their lives, so chapter two is going to be just about her. I hope you like this one.

If you spot any grammar/spelling mistakes, please, point them out.

I own nothing.

_**Chapter One**_

_**February 2004 – Burbank, California**_

Twenty three year-old Chuck Bartowski woke up in the couch of the apartment he shared with his sister. He slowly opened his eyes. Sunlight filling the living room, he couldn't help but see the mess he and his buddy Morgan had left the night before. Six bottles of beer carelessly scattered on the floor, cheese balls everywhere –even in his bushy beard, although he couldn't see that –, XboX controllers on the table and several plates with half-eaten slices of pizza. Growling, he tried to get up, but after the second try, he gave up. _It looks like it's still early, anyway_. He closed his eyes, deciding that a little more sleep wouldn't be so bad. But before he could even start to doze off, he heard someone coming.

"I can't believe this, Chuck!" Ellie Bartowski loved her brother more than anything in the world, but she was sick of watching how he threw his life away.

Chuck pretended to be asleep, but Ellie knew better. She always did. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. She tried again "Chuck, I know you're awake, open your eyes".

Chuck didn't listen. And that was the wrong choice. Leaning over the back of the couch, she threw the water to his face.

He wasn't expecting that at all, so he just jumped off the couch, his face and shirt soaking wet. "What the hell, Ellie? Are you crazy? What are you doing?" he was seriously pissed now.

"Oh, right, sure… I'm the crazy one. I'm the one who has been doing absolutely nothing with my life for the past two years. I'm the one who sleeps in a couch, lives out of junk food and plays videogames 24/7 with my man child friend". Ellie knew she would regret saying those things later, but right now, she was being what her brother needed her to be: his older sister, the only one in his life who could tell him the truth and prevent him from becoming some kind of gamer vegetable.

"Well, if I am so much trouble for you, why did you ask me to move in in the first place?". He was yelling too, even if he wasn't aware of that.

"Because you're my brother Chuck, and I love you! But I just can't do this anymore… I can't just sit and watch how you throw away your life like this! You're a smart guy! You could have a future if you'd work for it! Why don't you wanna move on? Why do you keep clinging to the past?"

"I don't! There's nothing I want to do more than to forget it! Just forget all the crap I had to go through… but guess what? I can't! Because every time I even _think_ about moving on, I see his face, I hear him telling me that I had done that to myself. And then I see my girlfriend telling me that she slept with him. So excuse me if my life bothers you, I just can't do it! I just can't!" and with that, we collapsed into the couch, hiding his face in his hands. He wasn't going to cry, especially not in front of his sister.

He felt a hand on his back. "Chuck", Ellie said softly, "just please, would you listen to me? I love you, little brother, and I hate that you had to go through all that stuff. I know it still hurts, but it's been two years, you have to move on. You are the smartest guy I know, and I know you can do anything you want. You just have to leave this couch. You don't deserve to live like this. And you definitely don't deserve to be this miserable. I love you, Chuck, and you need to learn to love yourself again". She hugged him and kissed the top of his head, and then left to work.

When he heard the front door closing, he slowly lifted his head. And when he opened his eyes he could see what was in front of him, for the first time in two years. It was the portrait of his life. Chaos. Mess. Dirt. He went to the bathroom and looked himself in the mirror. He didn't recognized the old, easy going Chuck. In his place there stood a guy who, honestly, looked like a homeless person, with a worn out robe and a shirt which must've seen better days. He looked into his own glassy eyes.

_Ellie is right. I'm a mess. I can't go on like this anymore. I have to do something with my life_. He knew leaving Stanford and everything it came with behind was going to be tough, but in that moment he made a decision: it wasn't going to determine his life anymore. From that moment on, Chuck Bartowski was going to be a new man. And the first thing he was going to do, was getting rid of that ridiculous beard.

Thirty minutes later, he had shaved, showered and gotten dressed. He went to the living room and picked up everything he and Morgan had left there the previous night. Just to think he had been putting Ellie through this almost every night for two years made him feel beyond ashamed. _I have to make it up to her. _

So when he finished cleaning the living room, he continued with the kitchen, and then the bathroom and bedrooms. He even did the laundry. It was pretty late when he finally was able to sit down. Taking a glance at the clock, he noticed it was almost two hours till Ellie and Devon, her boyfriend came home. So he decided he would make dinner too. _It's not much, but it's a start. I hope it's not too late and Ellie can forgive me_.

He made chicken with balsamic glaze. _The one thing dad taught me out of me_, he thought. He set the table and waited.

About twenty minutes later, he heard the door opening and he stood up, tossing away the gaming magazine he was reading. His hands started to sweat profusely, just like they always did when he was nervous.

Ellie and Devon were immerse in their conversation, so they didn't notice the change in the air right away, but when Chuck cleared his throat, trying to catch their attention, they did. Ellie's jaw dropped and Devon only smiled and said "Awesome", giving him a high five when he passed him by in his way to his room. He knew it was time for the siblings to make peace.

Ellie couldn't talk. She opened her mouth and closed it several times, but she had no words. The transformation in his brother had rendered her speechless, which wasn't an easy thing to do. So she did the only thing she could do: she ran to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

They remained that way for a long time, and when they finally pulled away, they had both tears in their eyes. Chuck was the first to talk.

"Ellie, I…"

She interrupted him, caressing his cheek "Chuck, you don't have…"

"Yes, Ellie, I have to. I need you to know how sorry I am for the way I've been and the way I treated you. I have no excuses for the things I did and didn't do in the past two years. And you certainly deserve better. You let me stay here when I had no place to go and you never gave up on me, even when I was such a loser. Since we were kids, you were the only one I could trust, and the one that protected me, and raised me. And I am so, so sorry for being such a bastard to you. But I want to make it up to you, and I'll do anything for you to forgive me. I swear today was the last time you had to see that asshole sleeping in your couch. From now on, you have your brother back. And you can count on me, Ellie, for everything. I would die before disappointing you like that again".

"Oh, Chuck!" said Ellie, holding him again and crying. "I'm not disappointed on you, I couldn't be. You're the only family I have left, and it pained me to see you like that. I love you so much, little brother! And you don't have to do anything for me to forgive you, cause there's nothing to forgive. It's my job to be there for you, and you have to know that I always will be. But is so nice to know that I have you back!" she looked up to him, smiling "and that you finally got rid of that hideous beard". They both laughed at that and it was like nothing had ever happened between them. He hugged her one more time and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, Ellie, for everything. I love you".

She smiled and wrinkled her nose, saying "Hey! What's that smell?"

"Oh, uh, just… a little something I made for dinner. You know, to start making up to you…"

"Woah! Something smells really good in here, what is it?" said Devon, walking into the kitchen.

"Chuck made us dinner!" answered a radiant Ellie.

"Awesome, dude, I'm starving"

And just like that, for the first time in a very long time, they sat together and ate, talked and laughed.

The next morning, Chuck woke up on his bed, for a change, and decided to start looking for a job. If he was going to keep living with his sister and her boyfriend, the least he could do was help with the expenses. So he got up, changed and started working on his resume.

It wasn't a pleasant task for him, given that neither "college dropout" or "expelled because of cheating" looked so good in it, but he tried to rip those thoughts out of his head and continued working. He remembered what Ellie had told him, and feeling a little better, he decided to go out and try to get some job interviews.

The first place he went to was the Buy More, because Morgan worked in there and always talked about how awesome it was. He'd heard they were looking for people for the Nerd Herd, so we decided to try his luck there first. He had only set one foot inside and he already knew Morgan had been exaggerating. As he approached the main desk, two guys seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Hello, good Sir, how may I help you today?" the older, blond one asked him. Chuck winced at the smell of beer on his breath –it was 10 am, for God's sake!- and the fact he apparently wasn't aware of being invading his personal space.

"Jeff, please, leave the gentleman here room to breathe… hello, sir, my name is Lester Patel and I'm here to answer all of your questions". After the short indian guy did something really weird with his hair –or was it a wig?– Chuck decided it was impossible to tell which one of them was creepier.

"Uh, I am… actually here to apply for a job. Is there any way I can meet with the store manager?"

"Barnes, Patel! Stop harassing our customers and go fix computers in the cage" a large African-American man shouted. Approaching to him, he said "I'm sorry about those two, they shouldn't be around people. My name's Big Mike and I'm the store manager, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, uh, hello, uh… I'm Chu… Charles, Charles Bartowski and I'm… uh… well…" _Damn, it's been a long time since I've done this._

"What is it, kid? You need a job?"

"Well, uh… actually, yes, yes I do"

"Ok, let me take a look at your resume"

Chuck gave him a copy and waited. It was probably the weirdest job interview he'd ever had. They were still standing in front of the Nerd Herd desk.

"You went to Stanford? Electronic Engineering? You must know everything you need to know about computers to be in the Nerd Herd, am I right?" he barked.

"Uh…yeah, I know a lot about computers, they're kind of my thing"

"Ok, very well then. If you want the job, it's yours. You can start tomorrow"

"Wow… thank you, thank you, sir…"

"Big Mike! And before you start thanking me wait till you'd spent a week in this hell hole" and with that, he walked away and left Chuck wondering if this was the worst decision he had ever made. _At least I have a job now_, he thought.He spotted Morgan chasing a costumer, asking him where he had bought his shirt, so he decided to intervene "Hey, buddy!"

"Chuck, my man! What brings you here? You wanna plan our COD strategy for tonight?"

"Actually, no, Morgan. There's not going to be COD for a while and, since tomorrow, I work here"

"Oh, my god! I can't believe this! I'm going to work with my best friend! This is the best day of my life!" Morgan was ecstatic.

"Ok, buddy, I need to go home and tell Ellie and the Captain the good news"

"Sure, sure… I'll see you tomorrow… coworker!"

Chuck laughed at his best friend's excitement as he left the store and went back home. Even if it wasn't the job he had always dreamed about, at least now his life seemed to be heading somewhere. He thought about what Ellie had said the day before _you can do anything you want_. _But what do I want?_ If he was honest with himself, he had never gave up on his dream of being a software designer, not even after the Stanford/Jill/Bryce debacle. Maybe someday. Right now, he needed a fresh start and that was what he was going to get.

Feeling satisfied, he went to buy his new uniform and grab a bite for lunch. Later, he took a walk in the pier. He was feeling pretty good, and that was the first time in years.

When he finally got home, Ellie and Devon were waiting for him and dinner was ready, so he sat with them and told them the news.

"That's great, Chuck! When do you start?" Ellie wanted to know.

"Uh… tomorrow, actually. I've already picked up the uniform".

"That's awesome, bro!" said Devon.

"Thank you, guys. I want you to know that this is only temporal, you know… until I finally find the right font for my five year plan" he joked.

Chuckling, Ellie said "Don't worry about it. And, obviously, you can stay with us for as long as you want"

"Yeah, Chuckster, we love having you here" agreed Devon, winking at him.

After dinner, Chuck went to sleep. He had to be early at work and he didn't want to start with the wrong foot with his boss, who seemed like a… complicated man. So when the alarm clock went off that morning, he jumped out of bed and changed into his new uniform, which consisted in a white short sleeved shirt, black dress pants and a grey tie. Which, by the way, seemed to have disappeared some time in the night.

Walking into the kitchen, he saw his sister making breakfast.

"Hey, El. Have you seen my tie?"

"Oh, good morning, Chuck. No, I haven't… which color is it?"

"Grey. I'm pretty sure it was in my bedroom's chair, but I can't find it"

"I think dad had a grey tie. You can check in the closet where we keep his old clothes"

"Thank you, sis, you're a life savior" he smiled at her.

"No problem. Oh, and I made pancakes, so when you find it come here and have a decent breakfast. I have to go now, my shift starts in half an hour"

"Ok, thank you, El. See you tonight"

"Have a great first day, Chuck" said Ellie, walking out the door.

Chuck went to the closet to look for his father's tie. When he found it and was going to close the door, something caught his attention. There was a folded piece of paper in the pocket of one of the shirts. He retrieved it and unfolded it. It seemed to be a schematic of some kind of machine, nothing he had ever seen before. _Well, I guess dad really was crazy_. But suddenly he felt curious about the stuff his father had left behind. He and Ellie had packed them in a few boxes and put it on the closet, never actually going through them. He took one glance at his watch. _Crap, I'm going to be late. _He ate his breakfast, put his tie on and was in the Buy More in record time.

It was a very dull first day. Just a couple of broken cell phones and badly used laptops. He was formally introduced to the creeps he'd met the day before and to a petite Asian girl, who was the only female member of the Nerd Herd. He was secretly intimidated by her and her shameless flirting, but he was going to have to get used to it.

When he finally finished his shift, he said goodbye to Morgan and his new coworkers and went home.

He found that Ellie and Devon weren't there yet, so he decided to wait for them to have dinner, since it was still early.

He headed to his room, but stopped in the middle of the hallway, changing his mind. He went to the closet and retrieved the four boxes with his dad stuff. He sat in the floor as he opened them and started to go through all the notebooks and schematics he had left behind.

He didn't understand any of them. Until he found a letter. It was from his mom. He would recognize that print anywhere. After all, it had been Santa's print for the first six years of his life. But what really caught his attention was the date. It had been sent two years after his mom left, and his father never told them anything. In fact, the letter never mentioned him or Ellie. Instead, it rambled about a secret project that apparently had gone very badly, an _Agent X_ and stuff he didn't quite understood. And the letter was addressed to _Orion_ and signed by _Frost_. The only thing on it that gave away that there was a previous relationship between his mom and dad was the three small X in the corner of the page. He had missed them the first time, but when he turned the single page around, he saw them. Why would they use nicknames? And who was _Agent X_? _This is so weird_, he thought. It was almost like a movie plot. Either that, or his mom was just as crazy as his father. _But why did he never say anything about this? Why did he never want to talk about mom? Why did he spend all those afternoons locked in the basement in our old house? _Suddenly, Chuck felt like he knew nothing about his family, about his past. He had never had a close relationship with his dad, and not for lack of trying. The man just wasn't into it. Or at least, that was what he had thought at the moment. But what if he was really trying to bring his wife back? What if all of his work was to bring his family back together? _Great, now I'm losing it too. Must be in the genes._ He put everything back in the boxes and stored them back in the closet.

It was getting late and he was really tired and Ellie and Devon had probably been caught up at the hospital, so he made himself a sandwich and went to sleep. But he couldn't stop thinking about what he had found. He had always been curious and he knew he wasn't one to just let things go. So he made a decision that would change his life.

He got up and turned his computer on. He started to design a searching program, code words _Frost_, _Orion_, _Mary Elizabeth Bartowski_, _Stephen J. Bartowski_. He knew this might be dangerous, but given the probabilities that something was really going on, he thought it was worth the shot. It was well after midnight when he finished. He left his computer on, doing the research and he went back to bed.

Somewhere in an isolated cabin, an alarm went off. The man inside it rushed to his computer and what he saw left him petrified.

"Oh, Charles", was the only thing he could mutter.

**A/N:** that's it. Second chapter down. What did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Hit the button and let me know.

I think I'm having trouble with the verbal tenses. If anyone wants to help me with that, please, PM me.

Until next time.

_Coming next:_

As she looked through the car window in the passenger's seat, trying to deal with the terrible pain that was threating to rip her heart, she vowed to never let her guard down again. There was too much to lose and she knew she wouldn't be able to take it.


	3. Chapter Two

**A/N:** first of all, thank you all for your reviews, the alerts and the favorites, and for just giving this story a chance. It really means a lot.

Here's the second chapter, now focusing on our favorite female spy. I know most of you are going to hate me after this, but trust me, this is all necessary for what it's coming. This is a Chuck & Sarah story, and I couldn't write it any other way, so if you can get through this chapter, you'll be happy about how things turn out later on.

Obviously, I own nothing.

_**Chapter Two **_

Jenny Burton died on Christmas morning of 1996. That day, she was awoken by her father urging her to gather her stuff. They left in a hurry and they never looked back. She had managed to convince her dad to take her to her friend's house though, where she left a small envelope with a picture inside. The only picture she had with him.

She was used to leave rooms, cities and even slight feelings of comfort and belonging behind, but she had never had to walk away from a friend before. She discovered it was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. With tears in her eyes, she'd tried to convey what their friendship had meant to her, but words seemed so shallow.

He had taught her that people could be good. That people could be nice. That people could actually care about her without asking too many questions. But, more importantly, he had taught her _she_ could care about people too.

Ever since she had first seen his huge smile and his warm eyes, she'd wanted to tell him all about her and know all about him. But she knew it was too dangerous. Mostly for her. She couldn't risk being rejected by the only person who seemed to genuinely care about her. She couldn't let him know where she came from, what she was. The daughter of a conman, who often helped her father with his _jobs_. A felon. A broken soul.

He was too good for her and she'd known that from the beginning. But how could she refuse herself the luxury of a friendship? How could she deny herself the pleasure of seeing that smile for as long as she could?

So when the car crossed the California border, a piece of her died. Jenny Burton ceased to exist. It wasn't just a name or an alias anymore, it was a portion of her being, what she had been when she was with him.

There was going to be another name, another town, another con. But she knew she was never going to be the same. Because the best of her had stayed in Burbank, in the memory of a curly haired boy.

As she looked through the car window in the passenger's seat, trying to deal with the terrible pain that was threating to rip her heart, she vowed to never let her guard down again. There was too much to lose and she knew she wouldn't be able to take it.

_**February 2004 – Washington DC**_

Sarah Walker got into her apartment and collapsed on the bed. After a twelve-hour flight she only wanted to take a nice bubble bath, get in her pajamas and sleep for three days. She had expected her partner and –_something like a_ – boyfriend to be at the airport waiting for her, but he didn't show up. _He must've had a mission, _she thought. The truth was, even if they had been sleeping together for almost a year now, they didn't have much in common, except for the need to release the adrenaline of a mission with each other. For her, it was the perfect relationship: no emotional attachments –she was lousy at relationships in general –, separate apartments and good sex. Besides, she had to admit they made a hell of a good team in the field.

But even when they didn't talk much about personal stuff, she could tell something was going on with Bryce lately. He wasn't his usual carefree self anymore and he always seemed worried. Plus, the month before he had disappeared for three days and then came back claiming that he needed a vacation so Graham had given him those days off.

And the past week, when she was required as a backup in New Zealand, he'd had to stay in DC, while she was busy babysitting DEA Agent and her former partner Carina Miller, who had requested her specifically. So, after Carina took down the international drug dealer –almost causing World War III in the process – she said her goodbyes and came back to the US hoping to have a talk with him about what was going on.

She called him from the airport, but he didn't pick up. So she headed to her apartment and was now lying in bed, eyes closed and about to fall into an exhaustion induced coma. The only thing that prevented her from doing so, was her phone when it started to ring. Dragging herself out of bed and towards the kitchen table, she picked it up.

"Walker"

"Agent Walker, I'm calling to congratulate you for the successful mission in New Zealand" she'd never quite understood why her boss seemed to be so fond of her, but the truth was he had saved her, and she kind of liked him in a father figure sort of way.

"Thank you, Sir. But if anyone deserves the credit is Agent Miller"

She heard her boss laughing in the other end of the line and she had to smile. After all, Graham knew Carina and her ways, since he had been the one to introduce them. "I'm sure she was invaluable for this mission, but if there's a reason this whole thing didn't end in an international incident, that's you, Walker".

"Thank you, Sir"

"Now I want you to rest and be back on Monday, not one day before, you got it?"

"Uh, yes, Sir". Sarah wondered what she was supposed to do with all those free days and finally decided she didn't care. She didn't get a vacation too often and she would find a way to make the best out of it.

"Oh, and I have news about Agent Larkin too. He's on a mission in Valencia and he will be returning next week".

"Oh, ok, thank you for letting me know, Sir".

"I'll see you on Monday, Agent Walker" and with that, he ended the call.

She glanced at her watch which showed it was already 8 pm. She decided she was too tired to take a bath, so instead she took a quick shower and went straight to bed. She fell asleep instantly.

A knock on the door woke her up the next morning. At first, she thought she was dreaming, but when the knocks became louder, she realized there was someone at her door.

"I'm coming" she groggily said. It was 10 am. She opened the door and found herself facing no other than…

"Bryce!"

"Hey, honey" he said with a grin, leaning to kiss her.

"What… what are you doing here? Graham said you were in Valencia. You weren't supposed to be here until next week…" Sarah was too sleepy for her own good. Her mind wasn't as fast as it was when she'd had a cup of coffee.

"Oh, that. Yes, I've already reported to Graham. Turns out the intel we were looking for wasn't in Valencia, but I have a lead that points to Rio".

"Rio? As in Brazil?"

"Yeah. Look, I came here because I need the box. My flight leaves in two hours".

She looked at him for the first time since he'd gotten into the apartment. Even when he was sporting his trademark smile –_more like a smirk_, she thought –, he had bags under his eyes and he didn't look so good.

"Bryce, are you ok? What's going on?" she asked with concern.

He frowned "What do you mean 'what's going on?' I just told you, I need the box, that's it. Seriously, honey, you have nothing to worry about" he winked at her.

"Uh… ok, you know it's on the closet… go ahead" Sarah said, not sounding very convinced at all.

Bryce went to look for what he needed and Sarah made some coffee. She was still having trouble to remain awake, even if she had slept more than twelve hours. She was having her first cup when he came back to the kitchen.

"So, how did the mission go?" he asked, pouring himself a cup.

"Uh, you know. Just like every mission with Carina. Crazy, dangerous, exciting" she said with a smile.

He chuckled "She always knows how to make things interesting, that's for sure"

"Yes, that she does" she looked at him intently. She was pretty sure something was wrong with him. "Look, Bryce, I'm your partner… you would tell me if something was wrong, right?"

"Of course, Sarah. You're the only person in the spy business I trust, and you know that" she could see in her eyes he was telling the truth. But still, she couldn't help that feeling of uneasiness that had assaulted her since he had shown up. She also noticed he had said "the only person in the spy business" which made her wonder if he had any friends outside the CIA. Either way, it wasn't the right moment to ask.

"Ok, so I have to go now" he said, washing his mug and grabbing the small box. "I'll see you soon" he added, walking towards the door. When he was at the doorknob, he turned around and with a serious look told her "Take care, Sarah" before closing the door behind him.

_Well that was weird_, she thought. Bryce had always been reserved, hell, every spy she had ever met was, but he had never looked so… somber.

Anyway, there was nothing she could do about it now. Once she was wide awake she remembered she had nothing to do until Monday. _What am I supposed to do with myself for four days?_ She wasn't used to have so much time in her hands, so she decided to start with a shower.

Once she was clean and dressed, she sat on the couch to think about her options. She could always go to the shooting range, but she wasn't really feeling like it. She could go to a bar that night, but nor Carina nor Bryce were there to go with her. Those thoughts depressed her. She had no one. She hadn't spoken with her father since he'd been arrested while she was in her senior year of highschool. She knew he'd gotten out a few months ago, but didn't know where he was. And, to be honest, she was still quite angry at him.

Sarah Walker was a loner, she trusted no one and didn't do the _emotional attachment_ thing. But it was times like this that made her wonder if it was worth it. What she'd give to have someone to lean on, just to talk to. Her mind drifted to those few months in Burbank, where she had spent the best days of her life in company of one sweet, innocent boy. She wondered about him sometimes. He must've gotten out of college by now and he would be working at some complicated computer thing. She smiled a little as she thought about how good he was with them. Countless times she'd had to stop herself from typing his name in the CIA database. She was done with her past and he certainly didn't deserve the intrusion in his life. He could've forgotten her, for all that she knew. But she knew she would never forget him. Even after all this years, the memories of the times they had spent together came to the rescue when she felt alone and depressed, like right now. She could only hope to find that connection with someone again. Wiping a tear from her cheek, and suddenly feeling nostalgic, she went to the closet, opened a shoe box and took the book out. It was still wrapped in what was left of the wrapping paper he had used, but she hadn't had the heart to throw it away. She opened it and smiled as she sat back on the couch and started to read.

Sarah was surprised at how well she'd adapted to have nothing to do, so when the alarm clock went off on Monday morning, she almost turned it off and kept sleeping. But her cell phone prevented her from doing so as it started to ring. "Walker" she said groggily. "Agent Walker, I'm calling you from the Director's office" said a woman's voice in her ear "He had to left DC urgently, but he said you should report to Agent Johnson and he will give you your next assignment" "Uh… ok, thank you, I'll be there in an hour". The line went dead and she went to take a shower. As she got dressed, she thought about how strange was that Graham himself had left DC. _Something big must've happened_. Of course, Graham had been a legend in the agency back in the day, but once he was named Director, he never went on the field again. And, in all the years she'd been working for him, he had never left DC. _Whatever it is, it's none of my business_, she thought while she was in the elevator. She greeted the doorman of her building and got into her black Porsche. Fifteen minutes later, she was outside of Johnson's office waiting for her new assignment. Suddenly, she could hear screaming coming from the inside of the office, and a few minutes later, three terrified looking analysts came out and rushed through the door.

Sporting a serious look, Johnson stayed in the threshold and said "Agent Walker, please, come on in".

She did as he said and came into the office. She sat down at his sign and waited for him to start talking.

"Agent Walker, I'm sorry about before, we're just trying to improve our security after a breach we had yesterday" _I wonder if it has something to do with Graham's impromptu trip_, Sarah thought.

"I talked with Director Graham and he said you're the best for this new mission. We think there's a rogue group inside the CIA and we want you to help us find out who they are and what they want" said Johnson, changing the subject. He had her full attention now. "For some time, some of our intel has been disappearing and now we had a security breach in our database. We believe this rogue organization wants to take down the entire CIA and they'll try to do it from the inside. We don't know who we can trust, so you can't tell anyone about this mission, and there's not going to be any records about it, just in case they can access our files. We can't risk to tip them off. So, Agent Walker, you think you can do that?"

Sarah frowned. After her dad was arrested by Graham himself, the CIA had been the closest thing to a home she'd had. Her job was everything to her, and knowing that someone was actually working to destroy it was unbearable. She looked up to Johnson and asked "What do you need me to do?"

_**March 2004 – Washington DC**_

Sarah walked through the long hallway that led to Graham's office. When she got there, he was waiting for her. He wasted no time in formalities as he asked her "So, how did it go?". Sarah looked at him in the eye "It's been taken care of".

"How many?"

"I don't really know. But I counted twelve when I got into the base to plant the bomb".

"That's good, that's good. Great job, Agent Walker, your country thanks you". Sarah nodded and turned to leave, but she stopped when she heard him say "I'll be sending you the details of your new mission tomorrow". She just nodded again and left.

She knew she was not going to sleep at all that night.

**A/N: **and that was chapter two. Please, leave a review, even if it is to tell me how much you hate me for including Bryce on it. I'll try to update soon. Until next time.

_Coming next:_

As the analysts took his computer and headed out of his bedroom, he couldn't help but think about his bad luck. Once he'd finally decided to let go of his past… this happened. He let out a bitter chuckle. A thought assaulted him and he turned to face the man, who was looking at him intently "Do you… is my sister home?"


	4. Chapter Three

**A/N: **I finally decided that I would make just one chapter out of two, not wanting to delay the reunion anymore. After all, I'd promised, right? Anyway, I hope you like this. If you do – or if you don't, you can let me know by leaving a review.

I own nothing.

_**Chapter Three**_

_**February 2004 – Burbank, California**_

Chuck had only slept a few hours when he heard loud noises coming from the kitchen. It seemed like an army was making its way to his bedroom. And that wasn't so far from the truth. Before he could even open his eyes, the door flew open and four men in dark suits appeared in front of him. Not knowing what to do, he let out a girlish scream and tried to cover his bare chest with the sheets. A tall, black man made his entrance and Chuck's eyes widened, not understanding what on earth was going on.

"Mr. Bartowski" said the man "it's very nice to meet you".

_This has to be a dream, this can't be happening, who the hell are these guys and what are they doing in my bedroom?_ Chuck could feel himself freaking out.

"Uh… I'm sorry, sir, uh… I don't mean to be disrespectful, but, uh… who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?" he stammered.

The man chuckled, although Chuck could tell he wasn't amused. "Oh, Mr. Bartowski, you didn't really think that we wouldn't find out about you hacking into the CIA database, right?"

"The what?" he couldn't believe what this man was saying. "I haven't…"

"Please, Mr. Bartowski, drop the act. Hours ago our analysts found out that a someone had hacked our system and deleted some pretty sensitive files. They managed to track you down, so please, don't insult my intelligence and start talking already".

"Sir, I don't know who you are, but I swear I would never do such thing, I'm an honest citizen and I have no interest in going through CIA files or much less _delete_ them".

"Mr. Bartowski, is that your computer?" the man was now pointing at it, and he suddenly remembered the program he'd made the previous night and his search. Could it possibly be…? _No, no way_, he thought. Even if he had somehow managed to break the CIA security, he'd never deleted anything. The program was meant to be searching, not deleting files.

"Mr. Bartowski, please, answer the question".

"Yes, yes it is" he said.

"Ok, so if you're going to keep claiming that you're innocent, you wouldn't mind our analysts to go through it, just to make sure you're telling the truth, right?"

Chuck hesitated. He knew he was in trouble. But if he said no, he was pretty sure the suits would drag him out of bed and possibly throw him in jail before he could even defend himself. At least this would give him time to think what to tell them if they found that his program had actually deleted the files.

"Uh… sure, it's all yours. But, uh… would you let me change first? I'm kind of uncomfortable with all of you…" he trailed off when he saw the look in the man's face. "Ok… I'll change while you're watching me, it's not… it's not weird at all" he mumbled.

As the analysts took his computer and headed out of his bedroom, he couldn't help but think about his bad luck. Once he'd finally decided to let go of his past… this happened. He let out a bitter chuckle. A thought assaulted him and he turned to face the man, who was looking at him intently "Do you… is my sister home?"

"No, I believe Dr. Ellie Bartowski and her boyfriend Dr. Devon Woodcomb left early to work".

Chuck swallowed hard. At least Ellie wouldn't have to see him being arrested by government agents. Talking about disappointment. He let out a sigh.

"What I don't understand, Mr. Bartowski, is what is your interest in those files being erased. Unless you're working with them, of course".

Chuck let out a snort. He knew it wasn't prudent, but seriously… _them?_ Could the guy be more cryptical?

The man just stared at him with a not so friendly expression.

Chuck snapped "Look, I don't know who you are, but you break into my house, violate my privacy by getting in my bedroom while I'm asleep and half naked, you take my computer away and accuse me to be some kind of traitor and you don't even have the decency to tell me what the hell is going on here. I think I have the right to be a little confused…"

The man interrupted him "Mr. Bartowski, this is a National Security issue, so I think you can understand my silence and my methods. If this is a mistake, I'll personally apologize to you and make sure you're duly compensated for the trouble we're putting your through. But the files that were erased last night were extremely important and you should know that…" a short guy with glasses cleared his throat interrupting the man's speech and catching his attention.

"Sir, there's something I think you should see…"

After glancing at him, he followed the analyst. Chuck could hear him telling one of the guys in a suit to keep an eye on him. He sat on his bed with his head in his hands.

Ten minutes later, the man came back, an ominous look on his face. "Mr. Bartowski, I'm afraid we have a problem here"

Chuck's head shot up "What? What is it?"

"My team here found a program you used to run a search, is that correct?"

"Yeah… yeah… I, uh… I wrote it last night and left the computer on…"

"And what exactly was that you were looking for?"

Chuck looked defeated. "My parents. They… they left us when I was still a kid and I found a letter yesterday… I know it was stupid, after all these years, but I had no idea I was going to cause a security breach and wake up to the sight of government agents…" he put his head in his hands again.

"Mr. Bartwoski, my analysts discovered that the breach was indeed caused by your program, but the files were deleted by someone else". Chuck slowly opened his eyes and frowned "What do you mean 'by someone else'?"

"As I said, your search must have alerted someone who didn't want you to find out about what was in those files, so they erased them from our database"

"So that means I didn't do it?" Chuck felt relieve wash over him.

"Mr. Bartowski, what exactly were you looking for?"

"I told you, my parents' names… this is just a simple program, you put some key words and it runs the search…"

"Mr. Bartowski, what words did you put on it?"

"Just my parents' names… and the aliases I found in that letter I told you about… Orion and Frost"

The man's eyes widened in acknowledgment.

"Wait! Wait… you know those names? You know my parents? Where are they?"

"Please, Mr. Bartowski, calm down. I'll try to explain everything I can later, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this. If you do, we'll have to… take care of you".

Chuck gulped. He knew exactly what he meant. "Ok, ok, I swear I won't say anything".

"Ok, Mr. Bartowski, I need you to tell me what is that you know and show me that letter and any other paper that belonged to your parents and they may had left behind".

Chuck nodded and told him how her mom left when he was nine and how his father followed her a few years later. He told him about the schematics, the letter and the notebooks they kept in the closet. And how that had made him curious and led him to create the searching program the night before. Once he finished, the man looked at him and said "Mr. Bartowski… Charles… My name is Langston Graham, I'm the Director of the CIA" Chuck's eyes widened and he gasped in surprise. "…and I believe you".

"You… you do?"

"Yes, I do. In fact, I can't tell you everything, 'cause it's classified, but I can tell you this much: those schematics you found are from a machine your father was building. For us".

"My father…? My father worked for the CIA?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. But that's not all. Frost… your mother… that was her alias"

"Her… wait… she… my mom too?". That was just too much to process. He had to sit down on his bed. "This has to be a mistake, it can't be" he mumbled.

"Mr. Bartowski, the machine your father was building was never finished. I read your file, you went to Stanford, is that correct?"

"Yeah, until I was expelled for something I didn't do" Chuck replied absentmindedly, still trying to adjust to the idea of his parents being basically spies.

"And you were majoring in electrical engineering?"

"Yeah… like father like son, I suppose…"

"And you seem to be very capable of handling a computer and writing programs…"

"Yeah… they're kind of my thing…" he was still in his own world, and was answering the questions without thinking what they implied.

"Mr. Bartowski, given that you're obviously very intelligent and you are perfectly qualified, I would like to offer you a position in the Agency" that made Chuck's head shot up again.

"You what?"

"I would like you to come work for us and finish your father's work"

"But I… I don't even know what those schematics mean. My dad wasn't a very… well, for the lack of a better word, _sane_ man, Sir, and I can't do it. I wouldn't know where to start, I mean… I don't even know what this machine does!"

"Oh, but we do. And you would be working with the best, of course. Think about it, Mr. Bartowski, this is a unique opportunity. You get to help your country, finish your father's work and to finally live up to your potential".

_Damn, that sounds nice_, he thought. Way better than Nerd Herder from the Buy More, that was for sure.

"Ok, let's say I accept. What would the conditions be?"

"Well, for start you'd have to move to DC. We would provide you with a place to live, of course, and you would get paid for your service to your country. And we would give you the option to keep working for us once you finish this particular project".

That sounded really good, but he had one question he needed to ask before making his decision "What about my sister?"

"You wouldn't be able to tell her what you really do, to protect her, that is. Even more, we could give you an alias so if anyone ever finds out about your affiliation to the Agency they wouldn't relate her to you".

"But would I still be able to visit? I mean, I'm the only family she has left and I can't just leave her".

Graham smiled for the first time and Chuck was surprised about how genuine he seemed. "Mr. Bartowski, you would be working for us, you wouldn't be our prisoner. Of course you could visit her or she could visit you too. You'd just have to take precautions to protect her. Working for the government can make a man earn a few enemies…" his face turned serious again "I'd like you to consider my offer and give me an answer by the end of the day". With that, he left, leaving an astonished Chuck behind.

Chuck was still sitting in his bed, and, once again, couldn't believe his luck. But this time, when he thought about it, a subtle grin appeared on his face. He had just been offered a job in the government, which consisted in doing what he loved. Not to mention this would probably be the closest he was ever going to be from feeling like a real life James Bond. His grin widened as he thought about the turn of the events. Ellie would be so proud. His smiled faltered when he remembered what Graham had said about having to move to DC and not telling her about what he'd really be doing. But that was just to protect her. Just like their parents had done with them. He still couldn't believe his father had worked for the CIA. And his mother had been a freaking spy! He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but that just earned him a deep pain in his arm and a potential bruise. He frowned, thinking about all the things Graham hadn't told him yet, but he figured he'd tell him if he took the job.

He shook his head and smiled again. "If he took the job". The truth was he already knew what he was going to do. Turning down the opportunity of his life had never been on his plans, and that hadn't changed. So he took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen, where all the people who had woken him up were stoically standing, apparently waiting for his decision to be made. He vaguely wondered if they would've stood there the whole day if he had taken more time to think.

When Graham saw him entering the kitchen, he started approaching him until he was standing in front of him. "So, Mr. Bartowski, have you thought about my offer?"

Chuck swallowed and nodded. "I'd like to take it" before the man could say anything, he added "but I have a few conditions". Graham just cocked his head, slightly amused about his demanding tone. He swallowed again. "I want to know everything there is to know about my parents and the files that were erased from you database. I want you to promise me that nothing will ever happen to my sister or her boyfriend, or any of my friends. And… from now on, I'm Charles Carmichael. I don't want the wrong people to be able to relate me to the ones I care about".

"I think those are perfectly reasonable conditions. Is there anything else?". Chuck shook his head no. Graham smiled and extended his hand "Welcome to the CIA, Charles".

* * *

><p>That night, he told Ellie we had been offered a job in Washington in a big company, and she couldn't be more excited for him.<p>

"Oh, Chuck, I've always known you were meant to big things! And even if I hate that you have to move so far away, I can't tell you how proud I am" she said that with bright eyes, and Chuck was afraid she was going to start crying again.

"Seriously, dude, that's awesome! I'm really glad things are finally starting to work out for you, because you really deserve it, Chuckster" Devon told him, grinning at him.

"Thank you, guys. It means a lot. And I am really excited about this. I think a change of air is exactly what I need" seeing Ellie's sad expression, he quickly added "but don't worry, I'll still be able to visit and spend the Holidays with you, and you can come visit me in DC any time you want".

After dinner, he went to bed. He had lots to do before he left for DC. First, he'd have to quit the Buy More and tell Morgan the news. He was kind of worried, 'cause Morgan had always had trouble letting go, and he knew he wasn't going to take it very well. His eyes started to close, as all the excitement of the day finally had taken its toll on him. And for the first time in years, Chuck Bartowski fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p><em><strong>April 2004 – Washington DC<strong>_

"So, Carmichael, any progress yet?"

Chuck looked up and saw Graham standing at the threshold of his office. He cleared his throat and said "Actually, yes, Sir. I've been able to put the data in the images and a prototype version of the machine can actually read it, so I'd say that's a huge step. I should get started on the actual machine by the end of the day".

"That won't be necessary" said Graham.

Chuck was confused "Uh… but I thought…"

"I want you to hand over all of your work to Dr. Busgang. He'll take over from now on" the Director interrupted him.

"I don't understand, Sir, did I do something wrong? Are you pulling me out of the project?"

"No, Charles, you've actually done a great job. But right now, Dr. Busgang is more qualified than anyone to continue to work with this. Of course, if your help is in any way required, we will let you know".

Chuck was still confused, but decided he wouldn't say anything. "Ok, Sir. So, what do you want me to do from now on?"

"You'll remain working for us as one of our analysts, if that's fine with you"

"Yeah, I'd like that very much".

"Ok, then, it's settled. You can take the rest of your day off. Tomorrow I'll instruct you about your new occupation".

"Thank you, Sir. I'll see you tomorrow, then". With a small nod, Graham left his office.

Chuck had no idea about what had just happened. Out of the blue, Graham was telling him he didn't want him to work on his father's project anymore. _Isn't that the reason he offered me this job and brought me here in the first place? _He couldn't help but think that there was something weird going on, and the Director didn't want him to know about it. He grabbed his bag, crossed it over his shoulders and walk out of the office. _I don't even know who this Busgang person is… and why would they need a doctor working on a machine?_ He had made a lot of progress in a little more than a month working for the CIA, and he had enjoyed his new work. He felt like he was finally doing something important, that we was making the difference. After all, if the government was so interested in finding a way to encode data in pictures so the wrong people couldn't get a hold on them, it had to be a big deal. He had to admit the idea seemed a little crazy when he first saw his father's notes. But when he went through all the schematics, designs and research he had done, things started to make sense. _He may have been a lousy father, but he was certainly a genius_, he thought. He hadn't made a lot of progress on his investigation about his parents, though. Graham had let him look at their files, but he'd only found out what he had imagined already: his father was a young engineer when he became an asset to the CIA. A handler, a young female Agent had been assigned to him. Three years later, Stephen and Mary Bartowski were married. Mary kept working for the Agency after that as a field Agent, but Stephen started to work at home. Now Chuck knew why he'd spent all that time in their basement. Even if he still held resentment towards his ever absent dad, he understood. It was important work, and it had to be done. But the files never mentioned why his mother had left or if she had disappeared or had been killed on a mission. And they didn't seem to have any relevant information about his dad's departure either. So that was a dead end. _For now_, he thought. He wasn't going to give up until he'd found out about the truth.

He got out of the building and started to walk to his apartment. It was about fifteen blocks away and it was a very nice day. He'd always loved spring, since he was a little kid. He remembered those afternoons when he would go out in his bike with Morgan and spent his afternoons in the beach. He smiled a little at the memories and wondered how would Morgan be doing. It hadn't been easy for him to leave him behind, but his friend had actually cried when he told him he was moving. _He was really looking forward to work together_. He shook his head and approached a food cart on the street. He hadn't had lunch, so he was starving. When he was about to order, something caught his attention. Walking through the sidewalk across the street was this gorgeous woman, tall, blonde and athletic. He could actually feel his jaw drop before the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. But the true shock came when she turned her head to her side, facing him for a second. Her hair was longer and her braces were gone, but he could've sworn that he was standing just a few feet away from Jenny Burton.

_No freaking way! _After all these years, he still thought about her sometimes. He still thought about the girl he'd met in highschool and never seen again after that day before Christmas. He had imagined a lot of reasons for what she had left that way, but he had never picture what he'd do if he ever saw her again. _And I'm still not moving. Go after her, you idiot!_, he scolded himself. Finally regaining the ability to move, he turned to the man in the cart "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, here, take this". He gave him ten dollars and run, without any food. He could see her turning on the corner, but there was a lot of people at that time in the street. When he was getting closer to her, he tripped and lost his balance, landing on the hard pavement. He yelled for her, but she never looked back. Still sitting in the sidewalk, he sighed heavily. _What the hell was I thinking? It probably wasn't even her. That's just great, Bartowski, you just made a foul out of yourself in the street_.

He stood up and cleaned himself the best he could. He went straight home this time, thinking he would be safer if he just ordered some pizza from his apartment.

It was late that night and he was really tired, but he couldn't sleep. He blamed it on the coffee he had gotten before bed, but he knew that wasn't the reason. Every time he closed his eyes, a pair of blue eyes and a big, happy, toothy smile appeared in his mind, making his pulse go faster and impossible to fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Sarah was back from her last assignment. She had infiltrated a group within the CIA that was suspected to be rogue, gathered the information her superiors needed and went back to DC. Even when she'd always enjoyed the excitement and the danger that came with every mission, this one was getting the best of her, and not in a good way. She was becoming more and more paranoid, she couldn't talk to anyone about what she actually did and she had never felt so lonely in her life. She'd even considered to go talk with the Agency's psychiatrist, but, not wanting her boss to get the wrong impression –or the right one-, she decided it was better if she didn't. To add to her uneasiness, she hadn't heard from Bryce for almost four weeks and she was starting to get worried. She'd only seen him twice after the morning he'd come to her apartment looking for the box, and both times she'd felt something was off with him.<p>

Graham's secretary told her that he would be seeing her now, so she stood up and entered his office.

He was looking through the window, her back to her. "Agent Walker, I'm glad to know you're ok after the last mission". He seemed distracted and when he turned around to face her, she could see a serious look and a frown on his face.

"Thank you, Sir. I've already handed my report, is there anything else you need to know?"

Graham sighed. "Please, Sarah, take a sit", he said, pointing the chair in front of her.

_Oh, God, this can't be good._ He never used her first name. She sat down and waited for him to start talking.

"We have gotten some intel about an Agent that has been working with this rogue organization for quite a while now". He stopped and glanced at her. Sarah started to panic. _He can't think it's me, right? _Her palms were sweating and she felt she was gonna get sick. "Unfortunately, when we found out about his identity, he had already gone off the grid". _Oh, thank God, he doesn't think it's me._ She let out a relieved sigh and asked him "And you want me to track him down?". Graham hesitated. He inhaled deeply and said "Sarah, that Agent is Bryce Larkin".

Sarah suddenly felt dizzy and was thankful she was sitting, 'cause she could feel her knees going weak. "No, Sir, it can't be! I think I would know if my own partner…"

"Sarah, please, stop. This intel is good, we've checked. We've managed to find out about number of times he went to places and met people we had no orders to go or meet. He never went to Valencia and he disappeared a little after that. I know this is hard to take in, but it's the truth".

Sarah couldn't breathe. That bastard! He'd shown up at her place claiming he had a new lead, lying to her face. She wanted to kick herself for not noticing that. She wanted to shoot something, like right now. Graham noticed the anger building inside her and he said "Sarah, stop blaming yourself. You couldn't have known. _I_ didn't know. Now, we have to stay focused if we want to take them down. Do you still want to do that?". He didn't usually ask, but given the sensitivity of the matter, he didn't want to pressure her. He knew Walker was one of the best, but even the best were affected if their partner became a traitor.

"Hell yes! That bastard lied to my face, and I'm going to make him pay!". She couldn't control herself anymore as she slammed her hand against the desk.

"Agent Walker" said Graham cautiously, "you know I can't let you go out there if you make this personal. If you're too involved, feelings may get you killed".

"But this _is_ personal! He was _my_ partner. He… I…" her voice broke and she breathed deeply, trying to stop the tears that were forming on her eyes. She felt sick and dirty. She hadn't only trusted him, but she'd let him into her bed.

She stood up and, calming herself, told him "Sir, I understand you have your doubts about this, but I can assure I can still be professional. Please, give me one chance to prove it to you". He still wasn't convinced, but if he knew Walker, she was going to keep insisting until he'd let her go on that mission or force her to take a few days off. "Ok. But one slip and you're out, you got that?".

"Yes, Sir, thank you". Sarah nodded and left the office. Graham stood on his chair wondering if he'd made a huge mistake. _One slip and she's out_. He just prayed that that one slip wouldn't have her killed.

* * *

><p>After his first day as an analyst, Chuck was contented. He'd had to do some pretty standard computer stuff, but he was on his element. He'd met a few colleagues who were very nice and had asked him to go with them to a bar after work, but he'd declined, being tired as he was. He had barely slept the night before and he was planning on going to bed early. He took a shower and got in his pajamas. He turned his computer on and started to check his emails while he ate what was left from the pizza he had ordered the day before. One of them caught his attention. It was from Bryce Larkin, his nemesis, the guy who had ruined his life, the Fett to his Solo. <em>I wonder what that son of a bitch wants now<em>. He opened it and snorted when a line of _Zork_ appeared in his screen. _Now you want to play, huh? If this is your way to say you're sorry, you're gonna have to do a lot better than this, Larkin_. He closed it and went back to his pizza. But he couldn't stop thinking about that damn email. _Ok, let's see what this is about_. He opened it again and his screen went black again, only showing the line of the game._ "The terrible troll raises his sword"… if I could only remember what was in my hero's satchel. Oh, right… "Attack troll with nasty knife"_. He typed it and pressed _Enter_. A series of pictures appeared in the screen, and he couldn't tear his eyes from it.

He never knew how long it lasted, but it suddenly stopped and he passed out on the kitchen floor. He was awaken by four people in dark suits, who cover his face with a bag, grabbed him and tossed him on a car. He had a massive headache and he didn't know who this people were, but every time he'd asked, he'd only gotten silence as a reply. They finally arrived to their destination, and they took him inside what it smelled like an abandoned building. They sat him down on an incredibly uncomfortable chair, tied him up and took the bag off from his face. There was a man standing in front of him, and when he turned around, Chuck's eyes widened in recognition.

"Well, Carmichael, I'd have never guess you were still affiliated to Bryce Larkin, not after what he did to you in college" Graham said.

Chuck was beyond confused. In fact, he was quite terrified. "I… I don't know what you're talking about, Sir".

"Bryce Larkin sent you an email last night, with some very sensitive information he stole from us. I have to say, though, I'm quite disappointed in you. I mean, you're not a spy, but anyone as intelligent as you would've left right after getting the email".

"Why would I leave? It was just a stupid video game!"

Graham laughed, but he was not amused. At all. "Listen, Charles, the only way to make this less painful for both of us is just telling me what you did with the info. If you do that, _maybe_ we can spare torture".

Chuck's face went white and he stammered "Tor-torture? Why…? Listen, I'm telling the truth here, ok? I just can't believe… last night, as you said, I received an email from the guy who got me kicked out of Stanford. I opened, and it was a line from Zork…"

"Zork?"

"Yes, that's a video game we used to play… we made our own version, so when I remembered my line, I typed it and suddenly a bunch of pictures appeared on my screen and I couldn't stop watching. Then, I think I passed out, because your guys gently picked me up from my kitchen floor before dragging me to your lovely abode" he wasn't sure why he kept doing that, but like when he was back in Burbank and had woken up to find himself surrounded by CIA agents, he snapped.

"So you're telling me that you saw the pictures… and nothing happened to you, except for passing out?" Graham seemed very interested.

"Yeah, that and a horrible headache" he answered.

"Look, Carmichael, I'm not sure what is your role in this whole situation, but I'm gonna need you to take the polygraph".

"Yeah, sure, whatever… just, please, can you untie me? My wrists are killing me…"

Graham nodded to one of the agents and he stepped up, cutting Chuck lose. He didn't know what was going on, but he was sure as hell he was going to find out. Bartowski didn't strike him as a traitor, but he had to be sure. He made another agent prepare the lie detector and when it was all set, he started asking questions.

He was surprised –and a little relieved – when he discovered Chuck was telling the truth. But now he had to explain what was really on that email and wasn't sure how his analyst was going to react.

He turned to face him, and felt a little sorry when he saw the look of despair on his face.

"Ok, Carmichael, what I'm going to tell you is classified, and only a few people in the Agency know about this"

_This gotta be some kind of bizarre deja vù_, Chuck thought, but still nodded to his boss turned kidnapper.

"After 9-11 the NSA and the CIA were told to play nice, share their intel. So we planned the best way to do it. We were stuck and not making any progress until you came along"

"M-me?"

"Yes, you. You provided us with the schematics we needed and a fresh vision. Unique, just like your father's. When you finally figured out how to encode data on images, I had to take you out of the project. So Dr. Busgang took over and he was able to find a way to put all the information in a person's brain" he gave Chuck a significant look.

"Wait, wait…" Chuck could feel the wheels on his brain turning at a furious speed "You are not telling me… you can't be telling me that _I_ have all that data… in my brain?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you, Charles".

Chuck buried his head in his hands and started to mumbled, shaking his head. _Why? Why me? Why do I have this luck? Why would Bryce screw me over again? What did I ever do to deserve this?_

"Charles… Chuck!" he heard Graham calling his name and looked at him. "I'm sorry, I don't know why Bryce would send the intersect to you in the first place, but now it's done, and I'm just glad it's not in enemy's hands".

"Yeah, well, but it's in _my_ head now! What am I supposed to do now? I can't go on the field, I have no training" he knew he sounded desperate but he didn't care. He wasn't cut off for this kind of life.

"Charles… there's something I didn't tell you" Chuck thought he was going to cry. What else could've he possibly left out?

"This intersect… there's not just data on it. Our experts have been able to add some… abilities to it"

"What do you mean _abilities_?"

"It's like a skill set. We're not really sure how it works 'cause we've never tried it on a person before, but it's designed in a way that it can be triggered by certain situations and then, the computer just kicks in… like filling the blanks"

"I don't get it…" Chuck was lost.

"Let's say you're facing a man with a gun. You wouldn't be able to disarm him, because you have no training whatsoever, but then, the intersect would come to help you, providing you the skill to do it".

"So, it would basically turn me into a full-trained field agent, is that what you're saying?"

"Well, as I said before, it has never been tested, but… yeah, that's the idea"

For the second time in two months, Chuck was forced to make a huge decision. And for the second time in two months, he knew what he had to do.

"So you want me to go out and risk my life… for the greater good" he said.

"I know you didn't ask for this, but that's how things are, Charles. You have the intersect in your head, so you know all the government secrets. We can't have that unless you work for us, 'cause we haven't figured out how to take it out. Otherwise, you would be sent into an underground bunker or eliminated".

Chuck felt a shiver go down his spine. "Gee… thanks for your honesty, Sir" he said sarcastically. He sighed. "I guess I have no option, then", he said, defeated.

"I'm sorry, Charles, but you don't"

"Yeah, I'm sorry too", he mumbled.

"So… are you going to work with us?" Graham looked at him in the eye and smiled a little. This _was_ a bizarre deja vù. _Well, I guess things can't get worse from now on_, he thought, standing up. "Yes, I am", he said in a serious tone. He clenched his jaw and added with a tiny grin "but I want a raise".

Graham chuckled and, once again, he extended his hand. Chuck shook it with a resigned smile. _Don't freak out!_

* * *

><p>When Graham returned to his office early that afternoon, Sarah was waiting for him.<p>

"Agent Walker, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, knowing exactly why she was there.

"Sir, I heard you made an arrest concerning the CIA facility that Bryce blew off last night. I want to be the one to interrogate the son of a bitch"

"Agent Walker, that's not going to be possible…" he started, but Sarah cut him off.

"Sir, with all due respect, I think I'm the most qualified Agent to do this. I was Bryce's partner for a year, I know him and I know how he thinks! If you let me do this, I swear I can get all the information we need. Besides, you need someone experienced to interrogate him, we can't trust this guy is going to play nice"

Graham waited patiently until Sarah finished and, with a small smile, he said "Sarah, it's not that I don't trust you, and in any other circumstance you'd be my first choice to conduct the interrogation, but it's already been done"

"What? You've already talked to the guy?" she said, genuinely surprised.

"Yes, we did. And it turns out he has nothing to do with Bryce. We still don't know why Larkin sent him the email, but I can assure you, he's innocent"

"That's bullshit!" Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. The guy was innocent? Then why had Bryce sent him the email? That made absolutely no sense. She was shocked that this agent had been able to foul Graham that easily.

"Walker!" she stopped her furious rant when she heard her boss's scream.

"The man Bryce sent the email is one of our most valuable analysts. I personally hired him, and I know him. Besides, he passed the polygraph".

Sarah collapsed in the chair behind her. She looked at her boss and whispered "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. In fact, he'd agreed to work with us, so I was thinking… how would you like a new partner?"

Sarah eyes widened "But… but you just said he's just an analyst! I can't go on this dangerous missions while babysitting a dork!" she was beyond frustrated. She was sure Graham was laughing at her.

"I said he is _an_ analyst, not _just_ an analyst. I can't tell you all the details, but you'll be informed about them if you agree to do this. The decision's your, Agent Walker".

Sarah sighed. She wasn't happy about this, but if Bryce had chosen this mysterious guy to send him the email, he must've known something, and this might be the only way to find out about it. Graham might have been sure about this guy's innocence, but she wasn't, and she was determined to prove she was right. So she took a deep breath and said "I'd love to do it, Sir". Graham smirked, knowing what her real intentions were. She was usually calmed and collected, but when she was pissed, like right now, anyone could see through her. _Oh, the fire of the youth_, he thought.

"Ok, meet us in an hour in the conference room upstairs"

"I will. I'm looking forward to meet my new partner" she said, turning to the door and leaving the office.

Graham smirked again. _Well, at least this is going to be fun_.

After seeing countless doctors and going through an equal number of tests, Chuck was finally released. He was leaving the room when he spotted Graham a few feet away. He went to where he was standing and unceremoniously asked "So, what now?"

"Now, _Agent_ Carmichael, you meet your new partner".

Chuck's eyebrows rose. "New partner? I thought this project was top secret…"

"Don't worry, Charles, we're talking about one of my best agents" he guided him to the conference room. "Please, take a seat" he checked his watch. "Any time now" he added with a smile.

Chuck did as he was told. Suddenly, the door opened. He looked up and his breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

Sarah was still mad about her latest meeting with Graham, but was feeling a little better since now she would be in a privileged position to evaluate how dangerous this guy really was. So, when she opened the door to the conference room, she allowed a smile to form in her face. She had to earn his trust if she wanted to get anything out of him, after all. She wasn't ready for what was waiting for her inside, though.

The same brown curls were on top of the same lanky frame. He was different, obviously, for eight years were plenty of time. She knew he'd recognized her the moment she had walked through the door, but still couldn't help but swallow hard when he whispered "Jenny?"

It was the eyes that left no room for doubt: she would recognize those warm brown eyes anywhere. In front of her was none other than Chuck Bartowski.

**A/N:** so that was long! Please, review and let me know what you think about this chapter. No peek today because I just finished this one.

By the way, who is excited about the new season's premiere? Just hours, guys! Hours! :D


	5. Chapter Four

**A/N: **Hi! I'm back! Thank you all for your reviews, story alerts and favorites. I'm glad you seem to be enjoying this story so far.

This time I want to especially thank **Aerox**, who kindly offered to be my Beta and made this much better than originally was.

I own nothing. 

_**Chapter Four **_

Sarah was the first one to recover, even though her pulse had gone wild and she could actually feel her blood pumping in her ears.

Chuck still had that dumbstruck expression on his face when Graham asked, "Do you two know each other?"

"No!"

"Yes!" they answered at the same time. Sarah could see the amused grin in the Director's face who was now looking intently at both of them. Before she could say anything, Chuck stood up and, looking straight to her eyes, said "Jenny, it's me. Chuck… Chuck Bartowski! Remember me? We went to school together for a while in Burbank… we hung out all the time!" _and then you left [me] without a word_.

She didn't answer and he felt like an idiot. Of course she had forgotten him. After all, they had been friends for just about three months, eight years ago. What was he thinking? That things could go back to the way they were when they were still in high school? Obviously, he hadn't been as important in her life as she had been in his. A sad smile formed on his face and he sat down, looking embarrassed.

Sarah couldn't think. Hell, she couldn't even breathe. The hurt in his eyes when she gave no sign of recognizing him and the defeated smile he was now sporting made her chest ache. She knew the easy way would be to deny everything, to tell him she wasn't Jenny Burton or maybe tell him she didn't remember him. And she was this close to doing exactly that. But when she saw the dejected expression on his face, her resolve crumbled, and before she could stop herself she was saying "Chu-Chuck!" he immediately looked up and met her gaze.

"You-you do remember me?" _How is a woman supposed to fight those damn eyes?_

"I… yeah, sorry about before… I guess it took me some time to place you." _Nice one, Walker. Make him feel like he meant nothing to you, that's always a great idea._

"Oh, yeah, no… I, uh… I understand…" Even when she was sure she had seen a flash of disappointment in his eyes, he was smiling when he asked "So how have you been?"

She was just about to answer when they heard Graham clear his throat. Loudly. They both gazed at the man who was standing at the head of the table. "As much as I enjoy a good reunion, I'd like it if we could concentrate in your new assignment, and you know… the national security stuff."

Chuck blushed and Sarah looked down, slightly embarrassed that her boss had witnessed their awkward exchange.

"So, I don't think you were _formally_ introduced." Chuck and Sarah glanced at each other across the table at the same time and quickly looked away. "Agent Walker, this is your new partner, Charles Carmichael. Charles, this is Agent Sarah Walker." _Sarah Walker?_, he thought, a frown forming between his eyes.

"So, as you both know, there's a rogue organization trying to bring down the CIA from the inside. They have agents everywhere and they have access to our information and resources. Agent Walker here has been working on it for a month now and we've been able to eliminate several double agents." Chuck shuddered at the thought of several people being _eliminated _by Jen… by _Agent Walker_. Unfortunately, Sarah had been watching him through the corner of her eye and she caught his expression. _He must think I'm a monster_.

"Yesterday," Graham continued "we found out that Bryce Larkin, who was a CIA operative, had gone off the grid, and that he had been working for said organization for quite some time before that." Now it was Sarah's turn to shudder. "Late last night, he broke into a CIA facility and blew up the Intersect, but first he managed to download it and send it to Carmichael." _Right, Chuck is the analyst, the guy Graham told me wasn't working with Bryce. _She was shocked that she could've actually forgotten about that, especially with how mad she was at Graham for believing this guy. _Chu-Carmichael_, she corrected herself. Before she could continue with that train of thought, something the Director had said struck her. "Excuse me, Sir, but what is the Intersect?" Chuck snorted and Graham shot him a look.

"Why don't you tell her, Charles?"

"Oh, sure. But please, call me Chuck. Charles makes me feel so… old," he said with a small grin. Sarah had to stop herself from smiling. _He's still got it_, she thought.

"So, _Agent Walker,_" he said, "the Intersect is this machine, a super computer if you will, that has encoded government secrets on it. Apparently the CIA and the NSA were forced to share their intelligence after 9/11 and they decided to do that in this unique way." He paused and saw Graham rolling his eyes, amused.

"Encoded how?" Sarah asked.

"Well, that's the interesting part: they put all the data in pictures. Unfortunately, when Bryce downloaded the data and sent it to me, I opened the email and saw those images. So, long story short, now it's stuck in my brain."

Sarah couldn't stop herself as she started to laugh, but when she looked up she saw both men looking at her with the same serious expression on their faces. "Wait, are you telling me that Chuck has a super computer in his brain and now he knows all the government secrets?" she asked.

"That's exactly what we're telling you, Agent Walker." said Graham.

"But that's… that's impossible. That's crazy, it can't be done."

Chuck nodded and said, "That's exactly what I thought until I saw the designs for the Intersect. Of course, by then I thought it would end up in an actual computer and not in my brain…"

"You saw the designs? Why?"

"Because I was kind of, supposed to encode the secrets in the pictures."

"So you were working for the CIA then. Why did Bryce send _you_ the email?" Sarah asked.

"Well, we're still in the dark about that one, but my guess would be that he wanted to screw me over once more before he died," he bitterly remarked.

"Once more? You knew him?" she asked, surprised that she had ended up being partners with a guy Chuck knew from his past.

Chuck sighed. After two years, it still pained him to think about it. "Yeah, I did. We went to Stanford together; he was my roommate and my best friend, until he accused me of stealing some tests and got me expelled. After screwing my girlfriend, that is."

Sarah's eyebrows rose in shock. Even when Bryce had betrayed her -and she had sworn to make him pay-, she couldn't picture him doing that to Chuck. "Did you steal the tests?" she softly asked.

"I thought it was kind of implied that I'm a decent guy…" he said, a small grin adorning his face.

"Well, we all make mistakes…"

"And I made plenty; that just wasn't one of them". She could tell he was telling the truth by the hurt in his eyes, so she let it go.

"Ok, so now you have all these secrets in your head," she said as she turned to Graham, who had remained silent during their exchange, "How is this going to work?"

Graham smiled a little when he said, "Chuck's work was to encode the secrets, but we had doctors and scientists working on a way to make it possible for a person to have the Intersect in their head. But once they figured it out, they also discovered that the information was not the only thing that could be stored on it. So they added some skills."

"Skills? As in physical skills?" she questioned.

"Yes, Agent Walker, physical skills. Basically, Chuck here can do anything you can do, but without previous knowledge," he said, while glancing at Chuck.

"So you're telling me that we would be working together… in the field?"

"That's right. But first, we need to run some tests to find out how these skills are triggered, so we can make sure that you are both safe on missions."

"You don't know how it works? Could it be dangerous?"

"We don't know, Agent Walker. But I've talked to Chuck's doctors and they told me that he had been able to flash without any pain or other complications."

"Flash?" she asked in a surprised tone.

"Uh…yeah… it's difficult to explain, but that's how it feels when the Intersect is triggered. I see a bunch of images inside my head that go by extremely fast and somehow, when it all ends I know everything about the person or thing that initiated the flash." She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "I know, it's crazy. But when it comes to these abilities it's slightly different. I've only flashed when I felt threatened and as a result, knocked out a doctor. I can't control it very well yet."

"And that's why we need to keep running these tests. But first I wanted you two to meet, so everyone could know where we're standing. Now that it's done we should wait for the complete results before we let you go in the field."

"Yes, Sir," Chuck said.

"Very good, Agents. Now I'd recommend you to go home and have some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day, especially for you, Chuck."

He nodded and explained to Sarah, "Tomorrow I'll start the special training to learn to control the Intersect."

"We'll be meeting here in this room at three o'clock. Now go get some rest. I'll need you both in your best shape tomorrow," Graham said.

"Yes, Sir," they chorused and stood up. Chuck reached the door and held it open for Sarah to leave first. She started walking at a brisk pace and he had to jog a little to keep up. "Hey Je- Sarah, wait! Wait!" She inhaled deeply and turned to face him "What is it, Agent Carmichael?" She saw his face fall and instantly regretted her snarky answer.

"Uh… nothing…" He shook his head and looked down. "I just… I… I wanted to tell you that it was very nice to see you again." He grinned a little, "Even if the circumstances are kind of crazy."

She just stared at him and didn't say anything, her face never showing all the emotions she was feeling at the time. His grin disappeared when she didn't answer, and he quickly said, "I, uh… I guess I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, he turned around and left.

Sarah sighed heavily. Never in her life had she ever felt like she was feeling right now. While she was leaving the building, memories of those wonderful times in Burbank assaulted her. It was the way her traitorous conscience was telling her what a bitch she had been to Chuck. As if she didn't know that already. She got in her car and speeded to her apartment. She needed a drink. And she needed it fast.

Once she was home, and with a glass of vodka in her hand, she let herself think about the latest events. First, she found out that her partner was rogue, then, Graham tells her Bryce sent an email to someone inside the Agency, an analyst, who she later finds out is her childhood friend who she hasn't seen in eight years. And that's not all… he has a super computer in his brain.

_How on earth did this happen?_ Everything she had thought in Graham's office was still true; it was too suspicious that Bryce had sent the email to someone working in the CIA, and she had sworn she'd get to the bottom of it. But she hadn't expected the person he had sent the email to, to be someone she knew. _But I _don't_ know him_, she thought. Yes, he had been her best friend, but that was a long time ago. _He does seem innocent, though_. He still had this aura of kindness, innocence and easiness around him, and those eyes… _What the hell, Walker? _She literally couldn't believe herself right now. She took a sip from her drink while she scolded herself for being so… _I don't even have a word to describe it! What is wrong with me? I've been with him for less than an hour and I'm already losing focus_. She took a deep breath and decided that, no matter what happened, she was going to be professional. Chuck was her partner now, her coworker, and all the personal stuff had to be left behind. She would only see him for work, and there was no way she was going to get attached again. _Feelings get you killed_. Satisfied with her newfound resolve, she finished her drink and turned on the TV. Lying on the couch, she did her best to concentrate on the movie that was showing, but her mind kept drifting to a lanky, curly haired analyst, who just happened to be her partner.

Chuck was lying in bed, the events of the day replaying in his mind over and over again. By now, he could say nothing surprised him anymore. Two months ago he was just an unemployed loser who lived with his sister and her boyfriend. Now, he was a CIA analyst with a super computer in his brain, and he was probably going to be promoted to Agent if the tests went well. In which case, he would be working with Jenny. _Sarah,_ he corrected himself for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. When she had entered the room, his brain had stopped working. She was beautiful. Ok, so that was obvious for anyone with a pair of functioning eyes. But she was so confident and focused. She seemed to be… perfect. Then again, she almost hadn't recognized him. _That had hurt_. But he couldn't really do anything about that. Besides, she had remembered him eventually. _You can't expect a girl… woman like that to remember you at first sight_. But when she finally did, he thought he had caught something in her eyes, like she was in somewhat of a struggle with herself. Of course, after Graham's interruption she was all business. Even when they left the room she had called him _Agent Carmichael_. _Yeah, that definitely hurt too_, he thought, wincing at the memory. And she hadn't said it was good to see him again, nor she had given him any indication that she wanted them to be more than partners. _Why would she, anyway? We don't know each other anymore… a lot of time has passed and we're not sixteen anymore._ He turned to his side and closed his eyes. Even though he'd love to be friends with her again, they were partners now, and they were going to be doing some dangerous work together. So, before falling asleep he decided he was going to be professional and leave the past behind. After all, that was what spies did. 

* * *

><p>Chuck was having one of the worst days of his life. He had been punched, kicked, and flipped over countless times. As one of the doctors explained to him, the Intersect had been designed for a <em>real<em> spy. And apparently, real spies didn't have feelings or moral restraints, or even a conscience like he did. So it was harder for him to flash when someone stood up in front of him just waiting for him to attack them. He had never been very fond of violence, and that was proving to be kind of an inconvenience in his line of work.

When he was finally released for the day, he felt like he was going to die. Every single part of his body hurt like hell and he just wanted to go home and pass out on his bed, but he was supposed to meet Graham and Sarah in half an hour. So he headed to the showers to make himself presentable. After he was cleaned up, he went to the conference room. Graham was already there, with a short red haired woman and a large man. A very scary man. He noticed the man's blue eyes on him since the second he'd entered the room. And when he said "Hello," he only got a grunt for a response. Sarah was the last one to arrive. After she sat on the chair right next to him, with her back to him, Graham started to talk. "Agent Walker, Agent Carmichael, I'd like you to meet General Beckman and Major Casey from the NSA." The woman nodded and the man grunted again. "As you already know," Graham continued, "the Intersect was a project both Agencies were working on, so it's only fair that now that it's operational, we work together." Sarah's shifted uncomfortably in her seat and the Major smirked when he heard Graham's last remark. "Now, it's not necessary for me to tell you how important this project is, and how dangerous this mission is going to be. We're dealing with an organization that wants to take down the CIA…" Chuck noticed that the Major was smirking again, "and our best shot to stop it is by using the unique knowledge Agent Carmichael here can provide. So your job, Agents Walker and Casey, is going to be to protect him and to make sure nothing happens to him." Chuck's eyes widened when he heard that. "Are there any questions?" Both Sarah and Casey remained silent.

"Wait a second, hold on!" Chuck started. "You can't ask them to do that! Besides, with the Intersect I'm supposed to be able to protect myself… I can't let them risk their life for me." Casey grunted again, this one sounding a little less amused and a little more skeptical.

"Agent Carmichael," said the General, talking for the first time, "I don't think you understand the importance of this assignment. It's vital for national security that you remain alive. Everything and everyone else, is expendable."

"Expendable?" Chuck couldn't believe it. "How can you say the lives of these agents are expendable? They're not different than me! They are people, for God's sake". This time, Casey snorted. Beckman's scowl deepened, Graham clenched his jaw and Sarah turned around wide-eyed to face him, for the first time since she had entered the room.

"What?" he had to ask.

"Agent Carmichael, there's no other way to say this, so here it goes: the future of the United States may depend on you. So yes, we are all expendable, but you. And you'll have to accept that, if you want to succeed in this mission," Graham told him.

After that, silence filled the room for what felt like hours. Chuck was looking down at his hands, but he could still feel Sarah's gaze on him. He thought of all the innocent lives that were in danger. He thought about all the people that had already died. Even Bryce, who wasn't his favorite person in the world deserved better than that. Finally, he said, "Ok. I'll do it."

Both Graham and the General seemed to relax after that. "Good. Then we'll inform you when you are needed. Now I'd recommend you to get to know each other. After all, you're going to be seeing each other a lot." With that, Graham and Beckman left the room, leaving Chuck, Sarah and Casey in an awkward silence.

"So… Major, huh? That's pretty cool," Chuck remarked, being the first to break the uncomfortable silence. Casey looked at him with a disgusted expression. Chuck gulped. "Yeah… yeah, that's uh… that's impressive. So, what music are you in to?" This time it was shock that registered on the NSA agent's face. He heard a quiet snicker and he turned to look at Sarah, who was visibly trying not to laugh. Casey stood up and said with a grave voice, "Look, Carmichael, I'm your partner, not your friend. I have orders to protect you and that's exactly what I am going to do. But that doesn't mean I have to like you, or even talk to you." With not another word, he left the room.

"A charmer, I see…" Chuck mumbled.

"Hey," Sarah said, "don't take it personal. He's a soldier, after all. They don't talk much," she smiled.

"Yeah, I can see that. Well, I guess I will be going too," he said, remembering what he had decided the night before. But when he tried to stand up he felt a stab of pain going up his legs and he fell back into his swivel chair.

"Are you ok?" Sarah asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine, I'm perfect. I may have to roll out the building, but everything's fine." Chuck couldn't remember being more embarrassed in his life.

Sarah bit her lip and decided to take pity on him "I can take you home, if you want."

"Nah, that's ok. I need some time, but I'll be fine." He tried to stand up again but he fell back again. He could feel himself blushing. "Ok, this is embarrassing."

"Chuck, it's ok. You've been training today, right?" She could see the bruises on his face, so she could only imagine how bad it was on the rest of his body. Not that she was imagining what his body looked like... _For the love of God, Walker, focus!_ She shook her head and told him, "My first week at the farm was torture. I wasn't used to that much physical activity, so I could barely move. But don't worry, it goes away soon enough."

He smiled. "Thank you for that. I've never been punched in the face before. And I had never punched anyone either. I think even my nails hurt right now."

Sarah chuckled. "Ok, let's get you home so you can rest." She put his arm around her shoulders and lifted him a little, allowing him to stand up.

"Oh God, I think I'm going to die." He just wasn't sure if it was going to be from the pain or her intoxicating smell. _Stop it, stop it, stop it. Think about something else… baseball, yeah, baseball… I don't know a single thing about baseball!_ He was freaking out when Sarah started to walk slowly, and then the pain was just too much to think about anything else. They finally made it to her car where she even fastened his seat belt for him. At this point he was too sore to be embarrassed.

"CIA pays well, I see." he said when she sat on the driver's seat. She only smiled as she started the car.

"So, where to?" He gave her his address, and tried to make small talk. Even when she seemed more open than the day before, she was still very quiet, so that made things kind of difficult.

"Here we are," she said, parking in front of his building.

"Thank you, I know this isn't in the job description, so I really appreciate that you did this for me. I'll see you tomorrow." He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, but when he tried to get out of the car, he saw her coming over to help him.

"You didn't think I was going to let you creep to your apartment, did you?" she asked in a playful tone. He only grunted his response, his mind being occupied on thinking about something else other than her proximity and the way she was holding him.

They made it to his apartment in the fourth floor. "Well, this is me. Thank you again."

"It's ok, Chuck, this is what partners do," she said with a tiny grin.

"Right, partners." He chuckled a little. "Ok, so I guess I'll see you at work?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then," she nodded and turned to leave.

Chuck watched her and when she was about to get into the elevator, he called her. "Sarah?"

She glanced at him. "Yeah?"

"Goodnight."

She smiled and said, "Goodnight, Chuck." 

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** you liked it? You didn't? Leave me a review and let me know!

Until next time.


	6. Chapter Five

**A/N:** first of all, as usual, I'd like to thank you all for leaving your reviews and for the story alerts, favorites, etc., etc. You guys are awesome.

Thanks again to **Aerox**, who, even when he's extremely busy, went over this chapter and made it readable. He's the best!

So, here's chapter five. I hope you enjoy it.

I own nothing. 

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Five<strong>_

_**April 2004**_

"Very well, Agent Carmichael. It seems like you're almost in full control of the Intersect. You keep up this pace and you'll be in the field in no time." Dr. Jones was in charge of the tests the CIA had been running on Chuck for the past two weeks. He was a nice man, average height, bald and with kind eyes.

Chuck had really progressed since that first day. He was still kind of sore, but it was nothing compared to the pain he'd been in when Sarah had to take him home. And he was learning to control his flashes really well. There had been two little incidents when he may or may not have knocked out a few Agents by accident, but that was all. Oh, and the ninja star that got stuck in the ceiling after a very confusing episode that had involved him studying said artifact and a very sneaky nurse that had startled him. However, the Intersect didn't have anything to do with that one –although he wasn't going to admit that. So things were going really well now, and Chuck was actually pretty happy with his life. He hadn't seen Sarah and Casey much after their first meeting, but Graham always stopped by to ask him how he was and to know when he would be ready to go on missions. At first, he thought it was nice of him, but now it was kind of pressuring. Luckily for him, the doctor told him he was almost ready a few days ago, so he figured he was _finally_ going to have some good news for Graham after his afternoon visit.

"I don't care! If you want to know if he's going to be ok, I have to see him myself!" Chuck turned around and saw a tall, dark-haired man in a doctor's coat and flashed. Dr. Jones reluctantly let him into the room and introduced him to Chuck. "Agent Carmichael, this is Dr. Zarnow."

"Ah, the human Intersect! I didn't think it was true, so I had to come see it for myself." _I bet you did_, Chuck thought. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Agent. One of the CIA's finest, I presume."

Chuck swallowed hard. "The pleasure is all mine, Doctor." Just when Zarnow was about to say something, the door opened and Graham stepped into the room.

Zarnow turned his attention to him immediately. "Director, it's so good to see you!" he said, with a feigned smile.

"It's good to see you too, Dr., but if I may ask; what are you doing here?" Graham's tone was a little colder than usual.

"Dr. Jones here asked me for a consult regarding Agent Carmichael's health, so I came here to see how he's been doing for myself."

"And I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that you've been feeding American intelligence and science to North Korea…" Chuck said in a calm manner.

Zarnow's face fell and he tried to run for the door. Chuck flashed again and was quicker; he threw the knife that was in the table right beside him and pinned Zarnow to the wall through his coat.

Graham smiled and said "Well, Dr., I would have never expected such thing from you."

"He's lying! I swear…"

"Cut the crap, Zarnow. He _is_ the Intersect after all." He turned to the two Agents who were standing at the other end of the room –they had been training with Chuck– and said, "Please, escort Dr. Zarnow to his cell." The Agents nodded and got out of the room, holding a panicked-looking Zarnow between them.

Graham looked at Chuck. "Well, Agent Carmichael, I have to say, that was _very_ impressive."

"Thank you, Sir," was Chuck's humble reply.

The Director only smiled and seemed to stare at him. Chuck was getting uncomfortable when he finally spoke. "I was going to ask when you would be field-ready again, but I guess I have my answer already, am I right, Dr. Jones?"

The doctor cleared his throat and said, "Well, there are still a few things that can be improved, but clearly Agent Carmichael here has come a long way. I'd say he's no longer dangerous to others or himself. If anything, he's quite the asset."

Chuck could feel himself blushing furiously under Graham's gaze, who was openly grinning now. "Ok, so it's settled then. Dr. Jones, thank you for the remarkable work you have done so far."

The doctor shook the hand Graham offered him with a big grin. "It's been a pleasure, Sir. And it's been a pleasure working with you, Agent Carmichael. The USA government needs more men like you." In the past two weeks, he had come to know Chuck and he knew he was a really good man. Maybe too good for this line of work. He respected human life and was always reluctant to attack someone unless he felt threatened. He was different from any other Agent he knew, special in his own way. He only hoped Carmichael's feelings wouldn't get in the way on a mission and get him killed.

Chuck knew he was blushing again, but he said anyway, "Thank you, Doctor, I appreciate it. And thank you for being so patient with me." The doctor only chuckled while he and Graham left the room. They started to walk together in silence, until Chuck had to ask: "So, what now?"

Graham stopped and looked at him, a serious expression on his face. "Now you, Agent Walker and Agent Casey are going to take down this rogue organization and make the world a better place." Chuck stifled a snort. That was so cheesy, especially for Graham. The Director noticed and laughed, which surprised Chuck. "Come on, Carmichael, even I have a sense of humor," he said, still laughing. Chuck joined him, a little shocked that he was actually sharing a laugh with his boss, the Director of the CIA, no less.

Graham knew Chuck was surprised about his comment, and to be honest, Graham didn't laugh much. But he had just witnessed the Intersect in action and for the first time, he believed it would be possible to end the threat the rogue agency meant to the US. Besides, he had to admit, Chuck had grown on him. He was very different from the people he had to deal with every day, and it was kind of refreshing, even if it was a lot more complicated on a whole other level. He knew it was going to be difficult for Chuck to accept some parts of the job. He knew it was going to be a risk to let him go in the field while he was clearly still an emotional guy, but he would learn with time. After seeing the things spies had to see for a while, he would change, that was inevitable, but he would become better at his job.

When they finally reached his office, Graham said, "Very well, Chuck. You may go home now and rest. Tomorrow I'll contact you and your team and let you know what your first assignment is."

"Yes Sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Graham nodded and disappeared into his office, leaving Chuck standing in the hallway with a proud smile on his face. Graham had said "you and your team". _My team… I have a team now!_ His grin threatened to split his face in two, but he didn't care. He was _that_ happy. _I wish I could tell Ellie, though…_ He had talked to his sister every day since he had moved to Washington. Even though he kind of thought it was a little too much, Ellie clearly missed him and he didn't want to hurt her. Besides, he missed her too. In all his time in DC he hadn't really made any friends. Sure, he talked to some of the technicians who had worked with him encoding the data in the Intersect and he knew a few analysts from his one day working in their floor, but things had been so crazy for him that he hadn't actually _connected_ with anyone. That just made him miss Morgan a lot more than he should've been doing. Or maybe not, considering Morgan was his self-proclaimed _hetero life partner_. He grinned as he imagined his best friend would probably be playing some Call of Duty with some of his creepy coworkers right about now.

He got out of the building and decided he was going to walk to his apartment. He was feeling really good. The only thing missing was someone to share his bliss. His mind immediately drifted to his partner… The pretty one, of course. He hadn't seen Sarah for three days now, and every time they had spoken since the time she had _carried_ him to his apartment –he was still mortified about that- it had always been work related. Even when he had promised he wouldn't let his feelings get in the way, he couldn't stop thinking about her. In fact, she'd helped him perfect the technique to control the Intersect, although she didn't know that. When he discovered that he couldn't just flash and attack people without a reason, he'd started picturing what a mission would be like, more specifically, what it would be like if Sarah was in danger. The moment he did it for the first time, the Intersect kicked in and he was able to reduce four armed men in just one move. Doctor Jones had been very happy with him, believing he was starting to turn down his emotions, but he had no idea what the real reason for his success was. And no one would ever will. It was just too embarrassing to say it out loud.

He finally got to his apartment and sat on the couch. It was still early for dinner so he took off his shoes and turned on the TV. Fifteen minutes later, he was still having trouble to concentrate on the Friends' episode he was trying to watch. The truth was, he felt lonely. He glanced at the phone and then looked back at the TV. Two minutes later, he did the same. By the third time, he couldn't believe how pathetic he was. _Just call her. It's just two frie… partners hanging out, what's the harm in that?_ He inhaled deeply and grabbed the phone. _But I did promise I was going to be professional. What if she says no?_ He pressed the phone to his forehead. He didn't want to be alone that night, but he didn't want to ruin the already awkward relationship he had with Sarah, whatever that relationship's label was at this point in time. _But it would be really good to have someone to talk to right now_. He sighed. He knew he was going to end up doing it sooner or later, so he just called her. At the third ring, he was sweating. _Calm down, you idiot, she's probably not even home_. After all, she could very well be out for the night, maybe at a bar with friends, or with her boyfriend. _Oh, my God! What if she has a boyfriend? And why do _you_ care? _He was still arguing with himself when he heard Sarah's voice at the end of the line.

"Hello."

_Talk, talk. Say something, anything!_ "Uh…hi, Sarah? This is Chuck, Chuck Bartow-Carmichael, you know, from the CIA…?" He couldn't believe himself right now.

He heard something that sounded suspiciously similar to someone stifling laughter. "Hi, Chuck. What's up?" a hint of smile in her voice.

He smiled too, and relaxed a little. "Great news: I've been cleared for field work today."

"That's great, Chuck." She didn't sound so excited though.

"Yeah, Graham said he's going to give us our first mission tomorrow."

"Wow, that's fast. You seem happy, though," she remarked as closed her eyes, thinking about how innocent he was. He didn't have a clue what it was like being an Agent.

"Yeah, I am. It's kind of a big thing for me." _Now or never_. "So, uh… look, as I said before, I'm really excited about this and I really wanted to tell someone, but I don't really know anyone and I just… I guess I didn't want to be alone. So, would you like to go out tonight?" He closed his eyes and winced, waiting for the inevitable rejection.

There was a pause, and then he heard Sarah saying, "Chuck, I…"

Before she could say anything else, something came over him as he spoke. "Look, Sarah, I know, we're partners and we probably shouldn't hang out but the truth is, I'd love to be with a friend right now, have a few beers and celebrate the fact that I'm actually doing something with my life for the first time in years. So, forget the CIA, the rules, the protocol and the Agent… would you like to do something with me tonight?"

If he could've seen Sarah right then, he would've laughed. She was staring wide-eyed at the wall in front of her, a smile slowly creeping on to her face. Ignoring her resolve of staying purely professional, she finally answered, "Ok, I'll be at your place in thirty minutes."

Chuck's jaw dropped. "Really?"

"Yeah. Unless you don't want me to…" she joked.

"No! Of course, of course I want you… I mean, I don't want you in that way… I mean, I… I'm going to stop talking now." Even though she couldn't see him, his face turned a deep red.

Sarah's laugh filled his ear and she said, "Ok then. But I don't want to go out, I'm pretty tired and I don't wanna dress up. You can order some food if you want."

"Great, great, I… I'll do that. See you in half an hour!" He could barely contain his excitement.

"See you, Chuck." She hung up the phone and bit her lip to fight the giant grin that was threatening to appear on her face. She was wearing sweat pants and a tank top, so she headed to her room to change. She had said she didn't want to dress up, but she wasn't going to meet Chuck looking like a homeless person. Twenty minutes -and a large pile of clothes lying on her bed- later, she decided that a pair of jeans and her blue shirt with little buttons were enough for a frien…partners night. She put on a little make up and headed to Chuck's apartment.

_I haven't thought this through,_ thought Chuck five minutes after he got off the phone with Sarah. While most of his time was spent being at work, somehow his apartment had gotten very… dusty. When he went to the kitchen he found dirty plates from the night before in the sink, two boxes of pizza were lying in the table and he didn't dare to take a look at the bathroom to see how the situation was in there. _Oh, my God! Sarah's going to be here in twenty minutes!_ He managed to do the dishes, throw away the pizza boxes and clean the living room and the kitchen a little. _Ok, only the bathroom left. Or maybe I can just tell her the toilet is out of order…_ He shook his head at that last thought. When he finally finished cleaning the bathroom and glanced at the clock, he noticed it had been forty minutes since he had talked to Sarah. He sat on the couch and turned on the TV. When he looked at the clock again, ten minutes had passed. _Maybe she's not coming_. He let out a sigh. _At least I had an excuse to clean my bathroom_, he thought bitterly. And then he heard a knock on the door.

He jumped off the couch, ran a hand through his hair and headed to the door. He breathed in deeply and opened it.

There stood Sarah, a little grin on her face and what seemed to be…

"Rocky road?" he asked, smiling at her.

"Well, yeah. I figured if you ordered the food, it was only fair that I brought dessert."

He chuckled. "Well, you're right, Miss Walker. Please, come in. Sorry it's kind of messy; I haven't really had time to clean."

"Oh, it's ok," she said, coming in. "This place is nice, Chuck."

"Yeah, it is. Kind of big, though. I don't use most of the rooms, but it's fine I guess. At least I have a guest room for Ellie and Awesome to stay when they come to visit."

Sarah smiled again. Apparently, Chuck was still close with his sister. She had always secretly envied him for that. She was an only child and the Bartowski siblings made her wish she had a brother or sister to play, share and even fight with.

They sat at the kitchen table, where the pizza Chuck had ordered was stashed. Chuck opened the box. "Vegetarian, no olives." He said with a grin.

"You remembered?" Sarah felt something in her stomach, but she wasn't sure what it was. _Maybe I'm getting sick_.

"Of course I remembered! Who do you think I am?" he playfully asked.

Chuck pulled out two beers from the fridge and handed her one of them. They sat there, and they ate and chatted and it was great. Sarah hadn't felt so relaxed in years. Her face actually hurt form laughing.

"So, how's Ellie?"

"Oh, she's great. She's a doctor now, and she's living with her boyfriend, Captain Awesome."

"Wait, you call him 'Captain Awesome'?" she incredulously asked.

"Yeah… wait till you meet him. Everything he does is awesome: climbing mountains, jumping out of planes… flossing."

Sarah thanked her lucky stars she wasn't drinking. Otherwise, the beer would've gone out her nose when she laughed. "So, I see your sense of humor hasn't change," she pointed out.

"Well, you know…" he shrugged.

"That's a good thing, trust me. You don't get to laugh much in this line of work." She instantly regretted saying that. Chuck's eyes shot up, and he was looking at her intently. He didn't ask though, and she silently thanked him for that.

"So…" he said "How did little old Jenny Burton end up working for the CIA?" He said that in a light tone, but she immediately looked down, a dark expression on her face. He noticed and quickly apologized "Hey… I'm sorry, I didn't know… you… you don't have to tell me, really." He couldn't bear to see the sadness in her eyes, and he wanted to kick himself for being the one that had caused it.

She had known it was going to come up eventually, but she wasn't ready to share that with him yet. She had never told anyone what her dad did for a living or how her childhood had been. And although it was all in the past now, it still hurt. The weird part was, she wanted to tell him. She felt so at ease with him. She had laughed more that night than in the past… eight years, probably. He was so genuine and kind, and just so… Chuck. But they had unresolved issues and she was afraid he was going to bring that up anytime soon. She didn't want to talk about why she'd left Burbank without a word. She didn't want to relive all those sad moments of her life. _I shouldn't have come_, she thought.

"Who wants some Rocky road?" Suddenly, she noticed Chuck was pulling the ice cream out of the fridge, with a huge smile and like nothing had happened just a minute ago. Just for that, she felt the urge to hug him.

After Chuck's change of subject, things went back to how they were before. They kept laughing and talking until she joked, "Of all the places I would've thought I'd see you again, work was the last one… no, actually, it wasn't even in the list."

"Oh, so there's a list?"

She blushed but held his gaze anyway. "Well, I can't say that I haven't thought about you a few times in the past eight years. But I figured you'd be a computer genius by now, not that you'd have one in your brain."

"Yeah, I figured that too. Funny how things work, right?" A sad smile appeared on his face. "I got into Stanford, and that on itself, was a dream come true. It was all new and exciting. I even got into a fraternity. I had my best friend as a roommate, I had a girlfriend who I thought loved me…" his expression darkened, "I was happy. Until Bryce accused me of stealing those tests."

Sarah felt so bad for him "Chuck, I'm so sorry. We don't have to talk about it, I have no right…"

"No, it's ok. I've learned that things are easier to bear if you talk about them." He glanced at her and smiled a little. "After that, I went back to Burbank, and lived with Ellie and Devon for two years. I was… I was in a very bad place in my life. I had no job, no dreams, and no will to live anymore. I was a burden to my sister and behaved like a little kid who had been deprived of his favorite toy. I'm not proud of that, but that's the truth. Of course, Ellie, being the amazing woman she is, helped me get back on my feet. I'd just gotten a job when I found a letter from my mom. It was addressed to Orion, my father. I don't know if you've heard that name before…"

She shook her head. She was amazed at the things Chuck was sharing with her. She had refused to tell him anything about her, and here he was, telling her about the worst times of his life, without asking for anything in exchange.

Chuck continued "Well, it turns out my mother was a CIA Agent." Sarah's eyes widened at this last bit of information. "Believe me, I know. But I found out the hard way: I was awakened by CIA operatives invading my house and Director Graham himself questioning me about the search I'd been doing to look for my parents." Sarah's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah… I wrote a little program to run the search. Somehow it managed to break down the Agency's security and I kind of caused a security breach…" He shrugged with an innocent smile.

Sarah couldn't help it as a proud smile formed on her face as well. _So that's where Graham had gone! _That had to be the day Agent Johnson had given her the secret assignment.

"What? What is it?" Chuck questioned, seeing her expression.

"Nothing, it's just… I went to Agent Johnson's office that day and he was yelling at a couple of analysts because of that breach…"

Chuck winced. "I hope they didn't get fired because of me…"

Sarah felt that strange feeling in her stomach again. "I'm sure they didn't, Chuck," she said, with a reassuring smile.

"Anyway, that day Graham offered me a job in the CIA to finish building the Intersect… which my father had invented." Sarah nodded and then realized what he had said.

"Wait, what? Your father invented the Intersect?" Sarah knew Chuck hadn't seen his parents in years, so finding out that his father had essentially created the thing that was now a part of his life must've been a huge shock to his system.

"Yeah, along with the letter I found there were also these schematics and notebooks he had left behind. Graham took a look at them and immediately knew what they were. So after that, I moved to Washington, and… the rest is history."

"History meaning you ended up with the super computer that your father invented, in your brain and working for the CIA as a field Agent."

"Since today, which is the reason we're celebrating tonight." He smiled broadly, and in turn, made her smile as well. She thought about everything Chuck had told her just a few minutes ago. He was still a good guy. Damn, he was a great guy. She didn't want that to change him, but she knew it was inevitable. Once he went in the field, he was going to lose himself, just like she had lost herself.

Chuck noticed the worried look in Sarah's eyes and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

She glanced at him, "Nothing, it's nothing…" she said shaking her head. Chuck didn't say a word and let it go, but she had to tell him how it was to work for the government. "It's just… working for the CIA, being in the field… it's not easy, you know? You have to give up a normal life, relationships in general, you never know who you can trust… and you end up changing."

"Hey," Chuck put his hand over hers and looked at her intently until she finally met his eyes. "I promise you, I won't change. And as your partner, I can guarantee you can always, always trust me, Sarah."

She knew he was telling the truth by the look in his eyes. _He really is a great guy_. "Thank you, Chuck."

He smiled again and then realized he was still holding her hand. He blushed and awkwardly removed it, causing Sarah to grin a little.

"Well, it's kind of late and we have work tomorrow, so I really should get going now," she said, glancing at her watch.

"Oh, yeah, yeah… sure. Here, let me get that for you," Chuck told her, grabbing her trench coat and holding it out so she could put it on. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then," Chuck said while he opened the door.

"Uh, yeah. I'll see you then," Sarah answered awkwardly.

"Ok, great. You… I'll walk you downstairs." He was suddenly feeling really uncomfortable.

"Oh, no, that's not necessary, I'll be fine." She looked at him once more and finally said, "Bye Chuck." She turned around and walked towards the elevator. She got in and heard Chuck wishing her goodnight as the door closed behind her. She rested her back against the wall and smiled. She had just had one of the best nights of her life, which, oddly enough, had consisted of just pizza, beers and rocky road ice cream while catching up with an old friend. _So much for keeping things professional_, she thought. But if she was honest with herself, she didn't regret it one bit. Still smiling, she got into her car and went home.

Chuck was lying on his bed, but he couldn't sleep. He was too excited about the new mission and his mind kept drifting to what Sarah had said. He had promised her he wouldn't let the job change him, and he was determined to keep that promise. He couldn't help but grin when he thought about how open and… normal she had been that night; definitely an improvement from the first time they had seen each other again. _So maybe I'm not that great keeping things professional_. Or maybe he didn't want to. He yawned. He would have to think about that later. Now, he had to rest. _Big day tomorrow_ was his last thought before he fell asleep. 

* * *

><p>Casey, Sarah and Chuck were waiting for Graham in the conference room. Casey was silently sitting in his chair, while Chuck and Sarah talked animatedly, mostly about missions and how it was being a spy. Chuck could barely contain his enthusiasm and Sarah was quite amused by his excitement. A few minutes later, the door flew open and the Director and General Beckman entered the room. Casey quickly stood up and saluted his superior, but Beckman shook her head and told him, "At ease, Major. No formalities needed here, we're going to be seeing each other a lot and we can't waste time on things like that."<p>

Casey obediently did as he was told. Immediately, Graham started talking.

"Good afternoon, Agents. You all know by now that roughly two weeks ago, Bryce Larkin broke into one of our facilities, got into the Intersect room, stole the data, sent it to Chuck and then blew up the whole building." When Casey grunted and Chuck and Sarah nodded, he continued. "Until yesterday, we thought he hadn't been able to escape the building in time, but we managed to recover the security tapes and they show he did."

Sarah was visibly agitated after this last bit of information. "What do you mean he got out? Didn't you have Agents there? And I thought the NSA had Agents going after him too!"

"We did," said Beckman, and turned to look at Casey, "but even the best fail sometimes."

Chuck could've sworn he saw Casey blushing. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise and no one said a word for a minute, until Chuck felt the need to mumble, "Well, this isn't awkward at all…" which earned him a murderous look from the Major.

Graham cleared his throat. "Anyway, the tapes also showed that there was a second Agent working with Larkin and waiting for him outside the building." He pressed the remote that had been lying on the table and a picture of a man appeared in the screen behind him. The man had dark hair and a large scar on the left side of his face that went from above his eyebrow to his cheekbone and around his eye. When Chuck looked at it, he flashed.

"That's Tommy Delgado, ID number 41730. He's a CIA operative who has been working on a classified project for FULCRUM," he recited.

All the people in the room looked at him. "Did you just flash, Carmichael?" Beckman asked.

"Yes, General, I did."

"Is it always that fast?"

"Depends on the amount of information, but yeah, it's always pretty fast."

"Ok, so we know who he is, now we need to find him," Graham chimed in. "And that's going to be your first mission: bring him here so we can interrogate him about Larkin and FULCRUM."

"Do we have any clue about where he might be?" Sarah questioned. Even if they knew who this guy was, it was going to be impossible to locate him if they didn't have a place to start.

"We do. With the help of the face recognition software our analysts were able to track him to his hotel here in DC. Apparently, he decided to stay close to home. Anyway, we managed to bug his room, so we know he'll be attending a party tonight, and you'll be there to apprehend him and bring him here." The three Agents nodded and he continued. "Agent Casey will be posing as a bartender, while Agents Walker and Carmichael will go as guests. Any questions so far?"

"Uh… what is our cover going to be?" Sarah asked.

"Well, unless you have any problem with that, you'll go as a couple," said Beckman.

Chuck glanced at Sarah, who immediately turned to look at him. He blushed but answered, "Not a problem for me, General."

Sarah swallowed and said "I'm ok with that too."

They both heard a snort and something that sounded like "I bet you are," but Graham was giving them the last indications for the mission, so they let it go.

Chuck was supposed to go to Sarah's apartment to "pick her up" even though technically they were going in her car. They had to arrive together due to the fact that they were posing as a couple. Casey was going to be arriving earlier, so he could check the rooms and see if he could spot Tommy beforehand. And well… because he was bartending –which didn't amuse him at all.

When the meeting ended, Graham asked Chuck to follow him to his office, where he congratulated him and gave him his CIA badge and his issued firearm. Chuck winced when he grabbed it, hoping that he would never have to use it. In fact…

"Uh, Sir?"

"Yes, Chuck?" Graham asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I… I was wondering if it wouldn't be best for me to use just a tranq gun. You know, for safety. We need Delgado alive and if the Intersect kicks in and I end up shooting him…" he stopped when he noticed the Director giving him a knowing look.

"Chuck, I know you're not comfortable with killing people yet, but we have to make sure you're safe."

"And I will be! Isn't that the whole point of this team? You and the General said Sarah and Casey's mission was to make sure I stay alive, and I trust they will do that. I just… I can't fire a real gun. Not yet, anyway."

"Ok, for tonight's mission, you can carry the tranq gun. But you're going to have to do something about that, you can't be carrying a toy gun against real enemies."

"Thank you, Sir. I promise I'll be fine and I'll keep myself out of trouble."

Graham nodded, not really convinced, but he figured Chuck would be alright; after all, Walker and Casey were going to be with him, and it was just a party. What trouble could he get himself into?

After leaving the building, Chuck decided it was best to buy a tuxedo, since he was going to use it a lot for missions. He smiled at the thought. Maybe he could even find a white dinner jacket, like Bond wore in that scene in Goldfinger. Feeling really good with himself, he went to the store. After an hour without finding one which suited him, he started to freak out and wished Ellie was there with him. She had bought him clothes since she was a teenager and really had an eye for that. When he tried on the seventh one and didn't like how it fitted, he desperately asked the salesman for help. Together, they found a black peak lapel tuxedo with a lay down collar shirt and dress pants that suited him very nicely. In fact, he felt so well wearing it that he felt like hugging the guy, but knowing it would be weird, he just thanked him and shook his hand. _Only the shoes left_, he thought. There was a reason he didn't like shopping, but he figured the shoes wouldn't be as hard as the tux. He was right.

By the time he got home he was feeling exhausted, so he decided to have lunch and take a nap. He needed to be in his best shape for later that night.

At six thirty, Chuck took a cab to Sarah's apartment. He was all dressed up and he had managed to somewhat tame his crazy hair. He could feel the tranq gun pressing into his back as he sat in the car. He was pretty happy with how he looked; considering it was the first time in his life he had dressed formally without Ellie being there to help him. Sure, he had struggled to tie the bow tie, but after looking for the instructions in the internet, it was easier.

He got into Sarah's building and reached her apartment on the third floor. Before he had a chance to knock, he heard her shout, "It's open!" Wondering how she knew he was at the door, he got in.

Sarah was in the bathroom finishing the last touches of her makeup. When she heard him get into the apartment, she told him, "I'll be right there, I'm almost done."

"Ok, no rush, it's still pretty early," was Chuck's response.

He sat on the couch in the living room and started to look around. Apparently, Sarah had been an Agent for quite some time now, but the apartment looked like she had just moved in. There were no pictures in the walls and it was kind of empty.

"Did you recently move in?" he asked.

"No, I've been living here for the past three years, why?"

"No reason, I was just asking," he lied.

He heard something behind him and when he stood up and turned around, he almost passed out at the sight before him. His jaw dropped and he felt like the temperature had risen significantly so he had to tug at his collar to be able to breathe properly.

Sarah had to swallow hard when he faced her. That tux looked really good on him. He was even wearing dress shoes, although she had always loved his trademark Chuck's.

After what it felt like hours, he finally cleared his throat and croaked "Wow, Sarah, you… you look gorgeous."

She smiled broadly at him, still trying to recover. "Thank you, Chuck. You look very dapper."

Chuck grinned. "Thank you."

"I have to tell you, though, I was kind of hoping for you to show up wearing a white dinner jacket." She said that with a playful smile and then winked at him.

"Oh, I would have, but unfortunately I left my diving suit in LA."

Sarah chuckled and Chuck offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

She accepted his arm and said, "Yeah, if we don't leave now we're going to have a very angry NSA Agent to deal with."

When they finally arrived to the party and headed to the bar, they could see Casey wasn't having a great time and he was practically barking at the costumers. He took them to a corner and asked, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Casey, traffic was terrible," said Chuck.

"I don't want your excuses Carmichael, I just want to apprehend Delgado and get the hell out of here."

"Ok, stop it you two." Chuck was going to protest when he saw Sarah's glare so he backed off. "Casey, have you seen Delgado?"

"Yeah, he's at your six o'clock, chatting with a pretty brunette."

Both Sarah and Chuck turned around to see that Casey was right.

"Ok, so what do we do now?" Chuck nervously asked.

"Just stick to the plan and everything's going to be fine. And don't screw up." Chuck was usually a calm guy, but Casey just kept pushing his buttons.

"Look, I don't need you to tell me what to do, I'm a spy too, you know?"

Sarah shushed them "You two are going to stop right now, or I am going to kick both your asses and take down Delgado all by myself. And don't think I can't do that, because I can. So it's really your choice." Casey snorted but didn't say anything else, and Chuck just looked at her with wide eyes. "Ok, then. Let's get to work." And with that, she headed towards Delgado, picking up a glass of champagne on her way. Chuck straightened his collar and followed her. When he finally got there, Sarah was already immersed in a conversation with the mark, so he stood near in case she needed him to intervene.

After about ten minutes of laughing and flirting, she took his hand and headed to the roof, as they had planned. He waited for them to get in the elevator and then talked into his watch. "Casey, Sarah's heading to the roof. Let's go."

He went to the stairs and started to climb them, Casey quickly joining him. When they reached the door, Casey put a finger on his lips, signaling him to stay quiet. We slowly opened the door and they saw Sarah was being held at gun point by Delgado and three other guys.

"Oh my God! Sarah! Casey, we have to do something!" Chuck desperately whispered.

Casey rolled his eyes "We will, moron, just shut up and let me think."

Unfortunately, one of the guys chose that exact moment to push Sarah, causing her to fall on her knees. That was all it took. Chuck flashed and kicked the door open. Delgado and his men, startled, turned their gaze to see where the sudden noise had come from, and Sarah took advantage of the distraction, kicking the guy next to her to the floor. By then, Chuck and Casey were in full combat mode, so between the three of them they quickly managed to subdue the rogue agents.

When they were all cuffed and disarmed, they took the stairs again and left the building. There was a van waiting for them just around the corner, so they handed over the four men to the Agents inside and went to meet Graham and Beckman for their briefing.

The General and the Director were very happy with the success of the mission.

"We'll set everything to conduct Delgado's interrogation tomorrow morning. We want you to be here as well."

"Yes, ma'am" the three Agents chorused.

"Very well, now go get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

She and Graham left the room, leaving Chuck, Casey and Sarah alone again.

"So? How about that, team? Mission accomplished!" Chuck said, smiling broadly. Casey just grunted and Sarah grinned at him.

"You did very well tonight, Chuck." She turned to glance at Casey "Thank you for saving me there, both of you."

"It's what partners do, Walker," the Major answered solemnly. "Besides, Rambo here was the one who stormed onto that roof to save you."

Sarah's eyebrows shot up when she heard that. Chuck shrugged and felt a blush creeping up his neck. "It was the Intersect, really."

She smiled "Thanks anyway. You probably saved my life, so I'm glad you have it."

They heard the Major clear his throat. "I'm out of here. See you tomorrow morning." Before they could answer, he had already left the room.

John Casey was a survivor. He had been a soldier for most of his life. He'd experienced terrible things; he'd even had to fake his death once. But before that, a long, long time ago, he had been in love too. So when he saw his two partners talking and chuckling and taking furtive glances at each other, he knew. He hadn't decided what he was going to do about it. He'd have to wait and see if their budding relationship would be a hindrance to their assignments. But, for now, he'd just let them be.

Those kids had no idea. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** what did you think? You liked it? You didn't? Leave me a review and let me know!

Until next time.

P.S.: how good was tonight's episode? I loved it :D


	7. Chapter Six

**A/N:** Hi! I'm so sorry for the delay… I have a lot of exams coming and they kind of get in the way of writing FF, you know? Anyway, here's chapter six. I hope you like it.

As usual, a huge thanks to all of you for sticking to the story, and to **Aerox**, who went over this chapter in record time :)

I own nothing. 

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Six<strong>_

The next morning when Chuck arrived, Casey, Sarah and Graham were already there, looking through the glass into the interrogation room where Delgado was being held. He was sitting in a chair and cuffed to the table.

"Morning, everyone!" Chuck greeted.

"Hi, Chuck," said Sarah, while Casey only grunted –by now, Chuck didn't expect anything else from him- and Graham nodded to acknowledge his presence.

"Ok, Carmichael, you're on," said the Director.

"Me? Are you sure about this?" he skeptically asked. He had never conducted an interrogation before, obviously, and he figured Casey or Sarah would do a much better job than him.

"You're going to do fine, Chuck, don't worry," Sarah encouraged him.

"Ok, wish me luck!" he said and went into the room. He stood in front of Delgado without saying a word. Not because he was trying to make him nervous, but because he didn't know where to start. _You can do this, relax. _

He straightened his tie and cleared his throat, trying to look confident.

"So, _Agent _Delgado," he started, "it's nice to have the opportunity to talk with you."

Delgado smirked. "Oh, let me guess… you just got off the Farm and want to impress your bosses? What's your name, kid?"

"I'm Agent Carmichael, and I ask the questions here."

"Sure you do. So what do you want to know?" Delgado asked in a mock tone.

Chuck was sweating and couldn't think about anything to say. He turned around to give an imploring look to the mirror, knowing his partners and his boss were watching him.

"I see he's a natural born interrogator," Casey sarcastically commented behind the glass.

"Give him a break, Casey, it's his first time," Sarah snarled. She trusted Chuck to do this.

Graham kept quiet.

Seeing that no one was coming to the rescue, Chuck took a deep breath and came up with an idea.

"Last night, after we apprehended you and your men, the CIA was able to track Bryce Larkin. He's under custody now. And he has talked. In fact, he told us everything about FULCRUM. Maybe, _just_ maybe, if you tell us something we don't already know, we can make a deal." Chuck turned to see the rogue Agent had gone pale.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not. Until today, we had no idea what FULCRUM was, but he's been very cooperative with us."

Delgado's face contorted in rage. "No matter what that little rat might have told you, you will never win. Larkin didn't know everything; he didn't know about the bigger things that are going on right now. Yes, FULCRUM is a threat, but that's nothing compared to the kind of threat _they_ are."

"They? Who's 'they'?" Chuck asked.

"You're not going to get anything from me, Carmichael, I'm done talking."

Chuck turned to face the glass once again, but suddenly, the door flew open and Casey and Sarah rushed through the door. He quickly looked to the table, horrified to discover Delgado's upper body was lying lifeless on top of it.

"Cyanide pill… hidden in his ring," explained Casey.

Graham stepped into the room, looking very angry. "How did this happen?" he demanded to know.

"I'm sorry, Sir, this is all my fault… I should've never stopped facing him, I should…" _I really screwed up_, Chuck thought.

"It's not Chuck's fault," Sarah said, "The Agents who brought him here should've taken his ring off. We should've been aware of the possibility that this might happen."

"The only thing I know, Agent Walker, is that we had a rogue operative who could tell us all about FULCRUM and now he's dead. So don't expect me to be happy about that!" Graham commented. He took a last glance at Delgado's body and stormed out of the interrogation room.

"Hey!" Casey said, taking the handcuffs off the deceased, "I've got this."

Sarah nodded and grabbed Chuck by his arm and dragged him out. Once they were out, she didn't let go. Instead, she looked him in the eye and told him, "Chuck, this is not your fault, ok? You couldn't know…"

"But I should've known. You said it yourself, _we should've seen it coming_, but I wasn't paying attention and now he's dead. We don't know what FULCRUM is, we don't know who _they_ are and our partner is taking care of a dead body because I didn't do my job!" Chuck was miserable. A man –rogue Agent or not- had died because he was too distracted to see him take the poison. It was the first time in his life he'd seen a person die and he wasn't handling it very well.

"Chuck, you're new to this, it was your first interrogation! Graham knew that when he sent you in there! And you did your job, not like the people who were supposed to search Delgado for anything that could harm him or you in that room."

"I… I just… I need some air, Sarah. Excuse me."

He needed to get out of there fast. He almost ran to his apartment, and the moment he got in, he took of his tie, which seemed to be strangling him at the moment and opened the first two buttons of his shirt. He took a glass of water and drank it in one gulp. He couldn't breathe. He put his hands over his eyes and felt the moisture trickle on his hands. _Pull it together, pull it together. You can't be a spy if you let your emotions take control. _He took a deep breathe, and then another, until he could feel himself starting to calm down.

Back at the CIA building, Sarah was sitting in one of the chairs on the hallway. She felt bad for Chuck. She knew he was feeling guilty, even when it would've probably happened to anyone. Of course, Graham's reaction hadn't helped at all. She understood that he felt frustrated, but he was wrong blaming it on Chuck.

"Walker!" She looked up and saw Casey and Graham approaching her.

She quickly stood up. "What is it?"

"Where's Carmichael?" Graham seemed to have calmed down, but his frown was still there.

"I… don't know. He said he needed air. He probably went home."

Casey grunted. "That's pretty brave of him."

"You know what, _Major_? It's not Chuck's fault that Delgado killed himself!" she snapped. "And as his partner, I think you should be a little supportive. This is all new to him and it was clearly not a great first experience, so why don't you give him a break? He's not like us. Besides, Delgado was done talking."

"Everybody talks, Agent Walker, you know that. We could've used other… methods to make him give us the information we needed," said Graham.

"With all due respect, Sir, everybody talks, except when they have an escape route like Delgado did. And he had it right in his hand. We just missed it. We all did, not just Chuck." Sarah knew that she was indirectly accusing her boss of not being careful enough, but it was the truth. They'd all made the same mistake, and it wasn't fair to let Chuck take the blame.

"She's right." If she hadn't seen Casey's mouth actually forming the words, she wouldn't have believed that he was backing her up. "And even though we may have more questions than answers right now, there are a lot of FULCRUM Agents out there. We'll just have to keep working to arrest all of them."

Sarah smiled a little and silently thanked him. He just nodded.

"Ok, then. Since we have nothing to do here, you can go home. I'll call you if anything comes up." Graham walked away, leaving the two spies in an uncomfortable silence.

"So, are you going to look for him?" Casey asked.

"Look for whom?"

"Carmichael. He's probably still moping around and blaming himself for what happened."

"He wanted to be alone, Casey," Sarah answered, although she wasn't sure if he should be.

Casey just grunted. "Yeah. Ok, I'm out of here. I'm moving today."

"Need any help?" she offered.

"No, thanks, I got it. See you." With that, he walked away too.

_I guess I'll go home too_. She was still worried about Chuck. He was clearly upset about what had happened, but she didn't know what to do. _Should I call him? _She didn't know what to say, though. He obviously wanted space, so she wasn't just going to show up at his apartment. _I'll call him tomorrow_, she decided, as she headed home. 

* * *

><p>Chuck entered the CIA gym and instantly regretted it. There were a lot of people there, all trained spies, of course. <em>I'm just going to make a fool out of myself here<em>. All the women had an athletic complexion, and he noticed they were all beautiful. Men were lifting weights, doing pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups and he wondered again why, of all places, he had decided to come here. He imagined how he must've look with his skinny arms and lanky frame, but he swallowed hard and headed straight to the punching bags in the corner. _This'll do_. He needed something to get rid of his frustration, and this seemed like a good idea. He put on the bandages and stood in front of the bag. He thought about the past night, when that guy had pushed Sarah to the floor, and the flash hit him.

It had been about forty minutes when he heard someone talking to him.

"Someone must've really pissed you off!"

Chuck looked to his side and saw the woman who had spoken. She was tall and beautiful, with blue eyes and red hair. He stopped hitting the bag and grabbed a towel to clean the sweat from his face.

"You need the bag?" he asked.

"No, I'm cool. I'm just enjoying the view," she said, winking at him. "I'm Carina, by the way."

"Chuck"

"So, Chuck… I've never seen you here before," she said.

"No, this is the first time I've come. I'm kind of new in the business."

She chuckled. "Well, I can see why they recruited you. You were beating the crap out of that punching bag. I'm sure you're great in hand to hand combat."

He wasn't sure why, but he thought it sounded kind of dirty when she said that. Shrugging, he answered, "I can defend myself." He grabbed the bottle of water he had brought and took a sip. "I'm done here. It was a pleasure to meet you, Carina."

"You too, Chuckie. Maybe I'll see you again?" she asked, with an innocent tone.

Chuck nodded. "Sure, maybe. Goodbye."

After he took a quick shower and grabbed his stuff, he went back to his apartment. When he reached his floor he was shocked to see Casey in the hallway.

"Hi, Casey, what are you doing here?" he greeted.

"I live here," was the Agent's response before he bent down to carefully grab what seemed to be a bonsai. Why Casey would be into bonsais, was beyond Chuck's comprehension. Monster Trucks and giant scary bears, probably wouldn't have surprised him, but little trees? He wondered if he was into puppies too. _Probably best not to ask_, he thought.

"Uh… Casey?" The Major turned to face him with an inquisitive look, "you need any help?"

"Sure, why not?"

Chuck left his gym bag in his apartment and came back to help Casey. He was about to grab another bonsai when he heard Casey's yell, "Not the trees, Carmichael!"

Chuck smiled as he asked, "What's with the trees, anyway?"

"They keep me calm."

Chuck just nodded and stepped into the apartment. Casey was pulling a portrait out of a box, and Chuck could've sworn he saluted it when he put in on the desk. He almost burst out laughing when he noticed it was a picture of Reagan.

"So… of all places, you are moving in here. I'm assuming you like the view and it has nothing to do with me living right across the hallway, right? 'Cause that would be stalker-ish and creepy, and frankly, a little scary." Casey just snorted as he kept pulling things out of the boxes, mostly books and guns. _He has a lot of guns, _Chuck noticed. "So tell me, Casey… should I change my locks and get an alarm?" he joked. Kind of.

"I can pick a lock and I can turn off an alarm, Carmichael, I'm a trained assassin." Casey glanced at Chuck. "But I live here because I needed a place more permanent and it's my job to protect you, so why not? This way, we can save a lot of time."

"Oh, ok. Thanks, I guess." Suddenly, he came up with an idea. "Oh, we can set a day of the week and make it trilogy day, you know? I used to do that with Morgan back in L.A. and it's awesome. I bet you love Die Hard, uh, big guy?"

Casey grunted. "Stop that, Carmichael. We're partners and I'm not going to spend time with you outside of work."

"You can try to resist all you want, Major, but I'll grow on you." Chuck laughed at the incredulous look Casey was giving him. "So, where do I put these?" he asked, holding a bunch of DVDs.

"You can leave them there, right next to the TV."

"Oh, speaking about the TV, you need me to set it for you?" Chuck offered.

"No, that's ok; Graham's sending some guy tomorrow to set it up, along with the computers," Casey answered.

"Please! You're offending me. I can do that too. In fact, I'll bet you I can do it better than any guy Graham could send."

"I don't know, Carmichael, what if you mess up?"

"I won't, Casey, this is my thing. And this way, you don't have to wait until tomorrow to watch TV. I heard there's a Vietnam documentary showing on the History channel tonight. You wouldn't want to miss that, right?"

Casey mumbled something that sounded very similar to, "I really don't," but Chuck wasn't sure he had actually said that, so he waited until the Major spoke out loud. "Ok, Carmichael, do your thing. But if you mess up, you're telling Graham."

Chuck smiled broadly. "Please, I'll have this working before you can say _Republican_."

Casey turned around to keep setting up his stuff, but Chuck saw him trying to hide his laughter. _Ok, so we're making progress on that front_.

Thirty minutes later, Chuck had set up the TV, the home theater, the computers and the sound system. Everything worked perfectly.

"I have to admit, Carmichael, you do know your stuff." They were sitting on the couch drinking beer.

Chuck smirked. "I told you. I even worked as a Nerd Herder for like a day."

"What does that even mean?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know," Chuck told him. "You know what's missing here?"

Casey sighed. "Yeah… a M134 minigun. I've always wanted one."

"What? No! Casey, I swear to God, if you get one of those in the building I'm telling Graham."

"Ok, but if you say 'a puppy', I'll shoot you."

"No! A puppy would probably kill your beloved bonsais, so that's out of the question. A gaming system!"

Casey snorted. "Carmichael, you should know this by now; I don't play. Ever."

Chuck smiled. "Yeah, yeah… wait until you see what Call of Duty is about and then you can say that. I have a feeling you'll enjoy shooting bad guys in a screen just as much as in real life." Chuck stood up. "Thanks for the beer and welcome to the building. I'll be across the hallway if you need me."

Casey stood up too, "Ok, Carmichael. I'll see you at work." Chuck nodded and opened the door. "Carmichael," he heard Casey calling. "Thanks for the help." He smiled and headed to his apartment. 

* * *

><p>Chuck was awoken by the phone. He tried to ignore it, but it kept ringing, so he had no other option but to answer it.<p>

"Hello," he said groggily.

"Chuck, are you ok?" Sarah's worried voice filled his ear.

"Uh, Sarah? Yeah, I'm ok, why wouldn't I be?" he glanced at the clock and saw it was seven thirty. "Anything happened?" he added.

"No, why? I was just calling you to see how you were doing…"

Chuck winced. He would've been better with a couple more hours of sleep, but it was nice of Sarah to call him. "Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. I have news though."

"What is it?" she asked.

"I have a new neighbor. A mutual acquaintance of ours, in fact."

"Well, who is it?"

"You have to guess! But I can tell you this: he grunts a lot, he loves bonsais and has a very unhealthy fondness of a former President of the USA."

Sarah chuckled, "You're kidding me! Casey moved into your building?"

"Yup. He lives right across the hallway now." In that exact moment, the tone in his phone let him know he had a call in the other line. "Wait a second, Sarah, Casey's calling me."

He put her on hold and accepted the other call. "Hello, Casey."

"Carmichael, you and Walker need to be at my apartment in half an hour. Graham's gonna give us a new mission."

"Ok, but we're only fifteen blocks away from the headquarters, why not go there?"

"This way's safer. I have to call Walker now."

"Wait, I have her on hold, I'll tell her."

"Ok, don't be late." Chuck heard Casey hang up and told Sarah their orders.

Half hour later, they were gathered in front of Casey's TV, waiting for the videoconference when Beckman's face popped up in the screen.

"Good morning, team," she said. Graham appeared behind her and greeted them as well.

"Last night, Bryce Larkin was spotted here in DC by a traffic camera," Beckman said, "Right now, we have our best people working on finding out where he's staying, but you need to be ready to move fast once we have that information. He's not going to be easy to apprehend and we need him alive. No mistakes can be made this time." Chuck felt himself blushing, until one of Sarah's hands grabbed his. It only lasted a few seconds, but it calmed him and at the same time, made his pulse go wild. "Stay close and ready to move. We'll be in touch." And with that, the screen went black.

"Ok," Chuck started with a smile, "since we have some time to kill, who wants some breakfast?"

"I've already had breakfast and I want to clean my guns now, Carmichael. You two can go wait in your apartment. I'll call you if I have any news."

Chuck turned to gaze at Sarah lifting his eyebrows. She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

They headed to Chuck's apartment and he started to make some coffee. "Need any help?" she offered.

"Uh, no, I got this. What do you want to eat?" he asked as he searched for a frying pan.

"Whatever you're eating."

"Ok, then, pancakes it is." He started gathering ingredients and began preparing the pancakes as they made small talk. Once they were done, he set the plates on the kitchen table and they sat there.

"So… Bryce is back. I wonder what he wants this time," Chuck mused.

"Yeah. It doesn't make sense, though. If he's running, DC is the last place he should be in right now," Sarah commented.

He swallowed his food and said, "Unless he has a mission here. Maybe he needs something. Maybe he tries to break into another CIA facility this time."

"I guess so," she said, not sounding very convinced.

"You never told me how you knew him," he pointed out.

Sarah didn't want to go there, so she just told him the partial truth. "I, uh… we were partners."

"Bryce was your partner?" Chuck couldn't believe it.

"Yeah," she bitterly admitted, "for about a year".

"Wow… that's… it must've been quite a shock to find out he was a traitor," he sympathetically said.

Sarah looked down, still ashamed of not noticing before. "Yeah, it was. I still think I should've seen that coming."

Chuck reached for her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Hey, he deceived the whole CIA; you can't blame yourself for that."

She grinned a little. "I guess so." Her cell phone rang and she opened the text message. "Great, just what I need right now," she mumbled.

"Everything alright?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah, just… a friend's in town and wants to see me."

He smiled. "That's a good thing, right?"

Sarah sighed. "Yeah, but you don't know her. As soon as she finds out that we're trying to catch Bryce she's going to want in and she's not the kind of Agent you want working with you on a sensitive mission like ours."

Chuck chuckled. "Come on, Sarah, I'm sure she can't be that bad!"

"Believe me, it is. Once in Pakistan I had to save her from a whole army just because she felt the need to improvise." She noticed his surprised look. "And it only gets worse… a few months back in New Zealand she almost got us killed for a pair of diamond earrings, which had nothing to do with our mission."

Chuck grinned at the obvious affection behind her words. "This friend of yours sounds… interesting."

It was Sarah's time to chuckle, "Oh, she is. There's never a dull moment with Carina."

"Carina?" He remembered the woman in the gym, "Beautiful, tall, red hair, blue eyes, flirty?"

"That's her," Sarah answered. "You know her?"

"I talked with her at the gym yesterday."

"Oh…that's… that's great." Sarah didn't know what to say. She knew how Carina was with men and wasn't sure if she wanted her anywhere near Chuck.

"Anyway, I think you should see her. It's always good to catch up with a friend. Besides, we have nothing to do until we know where Bryce is."

Knowing Chuck was right, she caved. "Ok, I'll tell her we can go out tonight."

In that exact moment, her phone rang. _Oh, crap_. "It's her," she told Chuck, while she picked up.

"Hi, Carina," she greeted.

"Walker! You got my message?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask you to meet me tonight for a drink."

"Sounds good. Are you on a mission or something?"

Sarah took a glance at Chuck, who was trying his best to not listen to her conversation. "No, not right now."

"Perfect. Maybe we can hit a club later. I feel like dancing tonight. Maybe we can even get lucky…"

Sarah could picture her saucy smile, and rolled her eyes. "Carina…" she said, in a warning tone.

"You're no fun, Walker, no fun at all. I've heard you got yourself a new partner, maybe you can bring him. Is he hot?"

She smiled. "Well, you already know him, what do you think?"

"What do you mean I know him?" Carina sounded genuinely surprised.

"You met him at the gym yesterday." Chuck looked at her when he heard that, and only got a grin for response.

"Oh… so you're partners with Rocky now?"

"Rocky?" She glanced at Chuck, who was shaking his head. "I'm actually at his place now, we just got briefed."

"I bet you did. Put him on speaker."

"Carina…"

"Come on, Walker, I swear I'll behave."

Sarah knew Carina never behaved, but she did what she said anyway.

"Hi, Chuckie."

Chuck dropped his fork, which made a very loud noise when it hit the floor. "Oh… hi, hi, Carina, nice talking to you again," he stammered.

"I was just telling Walker you should come tonight too. You know, have some fun, a few drinks, maybe even dance a little…"

Chuck looked at Sarah, who was shaking her head, an amused smile on her lips. "Uh, thanks for that, but, uh… I'm not really a dancer."

"Oh, come on. I'm sure you could use the night out. And I know for sure that Sarah needs it. She's finally starting to get over that traitorous bastard who left her…"

Sarah's eyes widened as she tried to stop her friend and reach her cell phone, which was lying on the table a few inches away so Chuck could listen too. "Carina, Carina, stop!"

"… I never even liked him, but I guess this time, Bryce Larkin has finally shown his true colors." When Carina finally ended her rant, nobody spoke. Sarah was looking at the phone with a horrified expression, and Chuck was looking at her with a frown and his mouth open.

"Are you still there? Damn, this phone keeps losing signal, I should have never bought this cheap piece of sh…"

"We're here!" Sarah said, her eyes closed and wincing a little.

"Oh, ok… so? You're in for tonight? What do you say, Chuckie?" Chuck was still affected by the earlier revelation, but he cleared his throat and told her, "I don't think that's a good idea, Carina. Maybe some other time." He clenched his jaw and walked out the kitchen and locked himself in the bathroom.

Sarah saw Chuck leaving and turned off the speaker, taking the phone to her ear "Carina, tonight, when I see you, remind me to kill you, slowly and painfully."

"What did I do now?"

"I have to go." She hung up and sat on her chair. She buried her head on her hands. _I'm going to kill Carina_.

Chuck was in front of the mirror, still having trouble to process what Carina had said. _Sarah was with Bryce. She wasn't just his partner, she was his girlfriend._ He sighed. He didn't even know why he was so upset, after all, he and Sarah had met again after the whole mess, so he had no right to feel… betrayed. _And you and Sarah are just friends. Why does it bother you so much? _But then again, she had lied. She had told him they were just partners, while they clearly were more than that. Even as a teenager, Sarah –or Jenny at that time- had always been reserved, but it didn't make sense that she'd hide something like that. Why would she not want him to know about her relationship with Bryce? Was she ashamed? He concluded that must've been it. Her partner _and_ boyfriend had betrayed the USA and she hadn't noticed. And she was a trained spy. _And I'm here moping around about _my_ feelings_. He remembered what she had said about this line of work, about not knowing who you can trust. She had trusted, but she'd deposited her trust in the wrong person. She'd been betrayed by her own boyfriend. _Surely I can relate to that_. Now, he was embarrassed about his behavior. _I'm a selfish idiot. She doesn't owe me anything and I have no right to feel this way. She must've been through hell this past month. I should be comforting her, not locked up in my own bathroom_. He would've kicked himself, but he had no time. He was going to make this right. He washed his face and went to the kitchen, where he found her doing the dishes.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked with a small smile.

"Oh, I figured, since you cooked…"

"You don't have to, I can clean that later." He went to the sink and turned off the water. He turned to face her, their feet touching at their closeness.

"Look, Sarah…"

"Chuck I'm…" they spoke at the same time and Chuck smiled, but Sarah had a sad look on her face.

"Chuck, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I… I guess I was ashamed. I should've seen it coming, but I didn't, I let my feelings cloud my senses, I…"

Chuck could see she was struggling to not let the tears fall freely, so he smiled, and he put his finger under her chin, making her lift her head until they locked eyes. "Hey, hey, hey… Sarah, it's not your fault, ok?" She looked down again. "Hey, look at me," he said softly. "It was personal and you chose not to tell me, it's ok, I get it. I didn't need to know that, and I'm sorry Carina telling me made you upset. But I know how it feels to be betrayed by someone you love. My girlfriend cheated on me and I was a mess for two whole years. I just want you to know that I know what you're going through and if you ever need to talk, I'm right here. Maybe we can even get drunk and burn a picture of them or make a voodoo doll or something…" he joked.

That elicited a smile from Sarah. She looked up at him again. "Thank you, Chuck. It means a lot."

"No problem. And hey, tonight's a good opportunity to start to move on. We can go out with Carina and dance a little, we have the night off."

"I thought you said you weren't coming?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Uh… I was just being an ass then. Really, we should go," he insisted animatedly.

Sarah lifted an eyebrow at his enthusiasm. "I thought you said you weren't a dancer."

"I'm not, but I'm trying to cheer you up here, please, bear with me, would you?" he said with a grin.

She smiled as well. "Ok, I'll call her and tell her to meet us at that new club near my apartment."

Chuck smiled brightly, proud that he'd made her feel better. "Awesome."

Sarah just shook her head and dialed Carina's number. She turned her back to him, but not before he could see she was smiling. 

* * *

><p>"Come on, what happened to cheering me up?" Sarah whined, pulling his arm and trying to drag him to the dance floor.<p>

"There's a thin line between cheering you up and just being ridiculous, and I'm not about to cross it."

They heard Carina's laughter behind them and they turned to see what it was about. She just looked at them knowingly and said, "You two look like a pair of sixth graders who like each other. I'm just waiting for him to start pulling on your pigtails." Chuck blushed –like a sixth grader- and Sarah gave her a murderous look.

"Ok, let's go. But I have to tell you, you may lose the ability to walk after going there with me." He wanted to be as far away from Carina as possible. She had proven to be… a little forward and too honest most of the time. All the time, really.

"Oh, is that a promise? Maybe I'll go too," Carina was having a blast messing with Chuck. He was really nice, but so easy to fluster.

Chuck face turned impossibly red as he felt the need to explain. "Because I'll step on her feet, because I can't dance… I didn't mean… I would never… and I'm heavy and she'll probably have bruises tomorrow…" Sarah put a hand on his mouth and while laughing, guided him onto the dance floor.

Chuck had never liked these kinds of places. He much rather preferred a night at the arcade, maybe even a quiet bar, but this was too much. People kept pushing him, and he was sure his shirt –which he had bought for the occasion- was covered in several people's DNA. _Don't think about that_.

He didn't even know _how_ he could think at all when he saw the way Sarah was dancing. She was very, _very_, close to him and sensually swaying her hips, lightly brushing him when someone would push her. He tried to look at the ceiling and think about something else, preferably baseball, but his eyes kept darting down at her and the way her body moved. He wanted to hold her so bad. _Eyes up_, he thought when he found himself staring at her ass while she did a spin in front of him._ No, not her cleavage, her eyes. Ellie would kill me if she saw me right know._ He had always been proud of being a gentleman, just as Ellie had taught him. He'd learned to not objectify women and respect them from her, and it was something he usually did. _But she looks so damn good in those tight jeans_.

Sarah was having a great time. She was completely relaxed and enjoying her time off with Chuck. She could see he was tense and figured it was because he didn't like being there. He had said something about people's sweat and his shirt, but she couldn't quite hear him. She loved to dance and hadn't done it in a while. She looked at their table and saw Carina flirting with some hunky guy. She smiled. That had never been her type. In fact, she wasn't sure she had a type. She had been with a few men in her life, but never really felt a connection. And Bryce, _well, we all know how that went_. She glanced at Chuck, who was awkwardly moving his arms around while trying to keep the beat with his feet. She grinned brightly at the sight. _How adorable is he?_ She bit her lip when she realized what she was thinking. _Stop it, stop it, he's Chuck, your friend, your partner_, she repeated to herself. She glanced at him again and caught him staring at her… _cleavage? Is he really…? _Before she could go there, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her back pocket. It was Graham. She signaled Chuck to come with her, as she took his hand and dragged him to their table. When she saw Carina making out with the guy from before, she took him to a corner.

"Hey, what is it?" asked Chuck.

"Graham just called me. I'll text him to see what's up." She did that and less than a minute later, she got her response. As she read the text, she started to pull Chuck out of the club.

"Wait, what about Carina?" he asked.

"She's a big girl; she'll find her way home. We have a mission now. Bryce has been spotted three blocks away from here." She was in full Agent mode now.

"What? So close? Should we call Casey?"

"There's no time for that, let's go." She started to drag him again.

"Wait, we don't know where he is! What if it's a trap? We have no back-up, no guns…" he trailed off.

"What are you talking about? I always have my gun. And my knives."

Chuck's eyes widened when he thought where those may be concealed, her clothes being so tight and… well if he was honest there wasn't a whole lot of room in there with the way that she filled them. He shook his head. _Focus, Bartowski! _"Ok, but he could've gone anywhere by now. How are we going to find him?"

"There's a CIA facility about ten blocks from here. You want to bet we'll find him there?"

"Ok, you win. Let's do this."

They jumped in her car and parked a block away from the building, not wanting to alert Bryce of their presence. Sarah took off her heels as they reached the door, which was already open. The guard had been shot; Sarah kneeled in front of him, but couldn't find his pulse. Cursing, she got up and headed to the stairs. When they were at the second floor, they heard noises coming from the elevator. They reached it and noticed it was going up.

"He's heading to the roof. He's probably called the extraction team already," Sarah said.

Chuck nodded. When they reached the door and Sarah went for the doorknob, he stopped her.

"What?" asked Sarah, impatiently.

"I think, as the Intersect, I should go first. I mean, he could very well be holding a bazooka and I'm pretty sure I can do a move from the Matrix if he takes a shot at me, while you, on the other hand, would be bound to get hit," he explained. Seeing the look on her face, he tried to joke "Don't blame yourself, it's in the computer." He didn't really wanted to go first, but he couldn't let Sarah do it either.

She narrowed her eyes at him, starting to get pissed. "This is no time for jokes, Chuck! We can arrest Bryce right now. And it's my job to protect you, so I'll go first. Now get out of the way!" Before Chuck could protest, she opened the door and steeped into the roof, where Bryce was standing alone, smiling smugly.

"Hands up and on your knees," she yelled.

"Come on, Sarah, it's not that I don't want to catch up, but the roof is kind of rough, even for you."

"Shut up! Now do as I say or I'll shoot you."

"I'd listen to her if I were you, Bryce." Chuck said, appearing behind Sarah.

"Chuck?" he seemed shocked to see him there.

"Yeah, Bryce. Now, please, don't make Sarah shoot you. She really wants to, and I can't say I blame her."

"Chuck, buddy, come on, let's talk about this," he tried to plead.

"There's nothing to talk about, Bryce. Just turn yourself in and we'll see what we can do after that."

Suddenly, a helicopter appeared out of nowhere, making Chuck and Sarah back off. Someone inside threw a rope ladder and Bryce climbed it.

"It's hard to say goodbye!" he yelled as the helicopter flew off. At that moment, people in the helicopter started to shoot at them. Chuck jumped on Sarah, trying to cover her from any bullets. When it was finally safe, he stood up and extended a hand to help her on her feet. But she just ignored it and yelled at him, "What the hell were you thinking, Chuck?"

"Wha-What?" he stammered.

"Just now! What were you thinking? They could have killed you!" _She's mad because I tried to keep her safe?_

"Well, they could have killed you too!" he yelled back.

"I don't have the government's secrets in my head! You heard Graham the first time, I'm expendable, and you're not!"

"Stop saying that! What am I supposed to do? Run away and leave you here to die for the 'greater good'?" he said that doing the air quotes.

"Yes, that's exactly what you are supposed to do! And if you can't control the Intersect, maybe you shouldn't be in the field at all." She was shaking. The moment the bullets started to fly around them, Chuck had thrown himself on her heavily, and even when she tried to escape his hold, she couldn't. He could've been shot and she couldn't bear the thought. So she just yelled at him.

"The Intersect? That wasn't the Intersect! I don't need a super computer in my brain to do the right thing, you know?" He was offended she would think it had been something he couldn't control, because he had done it voluntarily.

Sarah was fuming now. She approached him with a murderous look. "That's even more stupid! You need to understand that you're more important than me, than anyone, for that matter. You can't go exposing yourself to bullets and other dangers just because you want to play hero…"

Ok, _now_ he was offended. "Play hero? _You_ need to understand that I am not going to let anyone die for me if I can prevent it. Not a chance, Sarah. Especially not you."

She cocked her head and her expression softened. He cleared his throat and looked away. _Where did that come from?_ He hadn't meant to say that, it had just come out. And when it did, he knew it was true. _This is not the moment to be thinking about this, we have to get out of here and call Graham_.

When he glanced at her again, he saw she was staring at him with a frown and a confused look. "We need to get out of here, Sarah, and we need to tell Graham and Beckman about this."

She nodded slowly and finally tore her eyes away from him.

They walked to the car in silence, and the ride to the CIA building wasn't any different.

Chuck was extremely uncomfortable, trying to read her expression to know how his earlier confession had affected her, but she was looking straight at the road, her face never giving away any kind of emotion.

_Why do I ever open my mouth? _he thought. _What if I ruined it? _On the other hand, he hadn't really said a lot, _but the way she looked at me, she got it all wrong. _Another voice in his head –that sounded very much like Ellie's- joined his conversation: _Did she? _He growled internally. _Focus Bartowski, you're in the middle of a mission, stop thinking about this_.

Sarah's knuckles were white from holding the wheel with much more strength than necessary. Chuck had saved her. And it wasn't because of the Intersect; he had decided to protect her from those bullets. It was the first time in her life anyone did that for her, so she didn't know how to react. _Yelling at him was definitely not a good idea_, she thought, remembering his hurt expression. _I should be thanking him instead of ignoring him._ She could feel Chuck's glances at her, every few minutes. He had said _'Especially not you.'_ She was afraid to look into the meaning behind his words. _Could it be…? No, don't go there, Walker, you're on a mission_.

They finally arrived at the CIA headquarters and went to see Graham and Beckman. Casey was there too.

"So? Want to explain what happened?" he asked.

Sarah started talking. "We were just a few blocks away when we received Director Graham's text message, so we pursued Bryce to the building, where we found him on the roof. I ordered him to surrender when a chopper appeared out of nowhere and he got in. We couldn't do anything to stop him."

"What do you mean you couldn't do anything?" Casey was mad that he'd missed the chance to shoot Larkin. Again.

"She means they started shooting at us and we had to…" he trailed off when he saw Sarah's face. Apparently, she didn't want to get into that.

"You were shot? And where was the Intersect at that moment?" Beckman asked.

"He…" Sarah hesitated.

Chuck interrupted her. "The Intersect was safe in my head, as it always is, General. If you're asking about me, Agent Walker here made sure that I didn't get hurt."

Sarah glanced at him, surprised that he had lied to cover her.

"Very well, then, our primary objective remains the same: capture Bryce Larkin alive," said Beckman.

The three Agents nodded and headed out after being dismissed by their bosses.

"You need a ride, Carmichael?" Casey asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll be right there." He wanted to say goodbye to Sarah first.

The Major only grunted and walked towards his Crown Vic parked across the street.

Sarah looked at Chuck and said, "Chuck… I, uh… thanks for doing that."

He grinned a little. "No problem, the last thing we need right now it's being yelled at by our bosses, when there was nothing you could do. I mean, I kinda crushed you there, and I've been told I'm heavier than I look," he joked.

Sarah chuckled. "Thanks, but I meant what you did in the roof. I… you probably saved my life, and I just yelled at you…" she turned serious. "I'm sorry I treated you the way I did, but you have to promise me you won't put yourself in danger like that again."

Chuck returned her serious gaze as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Sarah, but I meant what I said. I can't promise you that because if I have to choose, I'll never let anyone hurt you… or Casey to protect me."

She felt that thing in her stomach again, and started to think that maybe she wasn't going to get sick at all, 'cause every time it had happened, it was because something Chuck had said. _Another thing to think about tonight_.

"Look, I'm tired and I don't wanna argue right now, so I'm just going to go home and we'll talk about this later, ok?"

He grinned again, more brightly this time, "Ok, but I know how that conversation's going to go."

She just smiled reluctantly and shook her head tiredly. "Goodnight, Chuck."

"Goodnight, Sarah."

He walked towards Casey's car and got in. "Nice car!" he commented.

"1985 Crown Victoria. The perfect car," Casey said.

"This is the perfect car for you? I mean, Sarah's Porsche is way more…" he stopped talking when he saw the way Casey was looking at him.

When they arrived at their building, he got out and Casey went to park the car.

He was about to open the door when he noticed it was already open. He carefully stepped into his apartment, not making any noise in case the intruder was still there. He was going to retrieve his tranq gun from under the kitchen table when he heard a loud bang behind him. He turned around, ready to flash, only to find himself facing his nemesis. He was looking at him with a smirk.

"Hello, Chuck," he heard the unmistakable voice call out. Bryce Larkin, the CIA's most wanted man, had broken into his apartment. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So? How about that? What do you think it's coming? Where do you want this to go? When Bryce proposes to Sarah –**Aerox** idea- and they ride off into the sunset together, should she be pregnant with twins or triplets?

You can stop freaking out now, that's only plan B! Seriously, though, I really appreciate the reviews, good or bad, they always help and make me want to keep writing. So, pretty please, hit the button down there –oh, dear! No pun intended- and let me know what you think!

Until next time.

P.S. I can't watch Chuck tonight, so enjoy it for me :)


	8. Chapter Seven

A/N: hi! I'm back. I'm so sorry for the late update, but Aerox and I have been working on the future of this story and life kind of got in the way too; but here we are. New chapter. I hope you guys like it :)

Thanks again for your reviews, alerts and favorites; and a huge thanks to Aerox, who dedicates a lot of his time to help me make this readable and more fun. 

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>_

Chuck looked into Bryce's blue eyes and all the rage he had been caging for the past two years could finally be unleashed. In front of him was the man who had ruined his life, got him expelled, slept with his girlfriend and sent him the Intersect. On top of all that, he had also broken Sarah's heart. Unfortunately for Bryce, he did send Chuck the Intersect, so he flashed and, without a word or a warning, delivered a right hook to Bryce's chin. He flew over the couch and landed on the floor.

"What the hell?" He was on the floor, trying to stand up when Chuck punched him again. "Chuck, stop! You don't understand…" he tried to explain.

"What is it that I don't understand, Bryce? That you're a traitor?" This time Bryce was ready, he quickly stood up and stopped Chuck's blow, delivering a kick that landed on Chuck's chest, sending him away and giving him the time to recover.

"I don't want to hurt you, Chuck, I just want to talk to you!" he said.

Chuck let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Oh, yeah? So what was that kick for? And what about the scene on the rooftop? You were shooting at us!"

"I'll tell you, if you promise to stop! I swear I'm not playing you. I'm not dumb; I know you're with the CIA, so I took a huge risk in coming over here." He then proceeded to carefully take his gun out of his waistband and put in on the table, under Chuck's scrutinizing gaze. "There, I'm not armed. Can we talk now?"

Chuck didn't feel like talking. Punching Bryce had been less relieving than he had thought it would be and now his hand hurt. On the other hand, Bryce had come to his home, so he must've had something to say. Even if it was a trick, he didn't really have a choice if he wanted to get some kind of closure, because if he arrested him, once Graham got a hold on him, he would never let him talk to Bryce again, not after the whole Delgado debacle.

He pointed to the couch and said, "Ok, you sit there. And no tricks, Bryce, or I'm going to be forced to hand you over to my bosses, and I'm pretty sure they're not going to be very considerate." He went to the door and closed it, making sure Casey hadn't gotten into his apartment yet. He didn't want the Major to find out Bryce was just across the hallway, fearing what he might do if he did.

Bryce did as he was told and started, "So… how have you been?"

"Ok, this is not how this is going to happen," Chuck said. "We're not friends anymore and you don't have to act like you care. You certainly didn't two years ago. I'm going to ask the questions and you're going to answer every one of them, are we clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Bryce answered with a smirk. He looked up at Chuck. He had changed a lot since he'd last seen him. He seemed more determined and… confident. He just hoped he was still the kind, goofy nerd he'd met in college. He had always admired Chuck's way of relating with people; he was always smiling, caring, trying to help anyone who needed it. At that time, he'd thought he was naïve, that people would just take advantage of him, but there was something about Chuck that made people trust him and want to tell him about their lives and problems, that he hadn't found in any other person. Not that the spy world is a good place to search. Now that he was sitting in front of him, he realized how much he'd missed his best friend.

Chuck's voice brought him back to the present. "Ok, let's start from the beginning: why did you send me the Intersect?"

"That's not the beginning, Chuck," Bryce said, shaking his head, his expression turning dark.

"Ok, care to enlighten me?" Chuck asked.

Bryce sighed. "It all started about six months ago. I was recruited by a special access group inside the CIA. They knew who I was, my activation codes… hell they even knew my record. They ordered me to shed my Agency contacts and go deep. Only then did I realize it was not the CIA, but a cabal of rogue spies that had ordered me to do this mission, so I downloaded and destroyed the Intersect. FULCRUM had plans for its Intel and I couldn't let them have it."

"Why did you send it to me, of all people?"

"I needed a friend who wasn't a spy, who wouldn't know anything about FULCRUM, or the Intersect, or Sand Wall." As soon as Bryce said that, the flash hit him. Sand Wall was the name of the secret operation FULCRUM was leading, and it consisted in appropriating the Intersect and using it to destroy the CIA from the inside. That meant Bryce was telling the truth, which surprised him. "Of course, I didn't know you were already working for the CIA. I thought you'd be in L.A. being a computer genius and all," Bryce said, with a small smile.

"Yeah, well, those plans flew out the window the day you got me expelled from Stanford," Chuck bitterly answered. Bryce chuckled. "Oh, yeah, that's hilarious," Chuck said, feeling the urge to punch him again.

"No, you see… it's ironic. You never knew why I put those exams under your bed."

Chuck had wanted to know that ever since he'd found out about Bryce's betrayal. "Are you going to tell me?" he asked.

Bryce nodded. "That morning, you were supposed to meet with Professor Fleming."

"No, I wasn't," Chuck quickly replied. He remembered that day like it was yesterday.

"Yes, you were. You just never found out because I never gave you the message. I had already been recruited by the CIA, and I knew Fleming was an asset working for the Agency." Chuck's eyes widened in surprised. His ex-teacher was a CIA asset? Was everyone in his life related to the government? "You were a perfect candidate for project Omaha. You had scored 98 percent in subliminal images recognition, which means you can retain an incredible amount of information, so they were going to recruit you. Project Omaha was a military operation, and I tried to talk some sense into Fleming, tell him it was too dangerous, that you wouldn't survive, but he said he couldn't do anything about it. I never wanted to do what I did, but I didn't want my best friend to get killed because of this job either. So I made the best decision I could in less than twenty four hours. There hasn't been a day in my life where I don't regret it, but I always got comfort thinking that at least you had your life and you would be doing something that you loved, instead of risking it every day for your country." He chuckled in a self chastising manner. "But look at how that turned out."

Chuck was speechless. From the beginning he was meant to be recruited by the CIA, but Bryce got him expelled to save his life. He wasn't ok with that, and he probably would never be, but it had to count for something, right? On the other hand, he wasn't a complete idiot, so he felt offended that Bryce had felt the need to protect him like he was a little child with no say in the matter. "But why didn't you tell me? We could've figured out something together! Do you know how my life's been for the past two years?" he asked, his voice rising near the end of his question. He didn't shout, but he had gone way past the normal decibel level of a conversation.

Bryce actually recoiled a bit at the anger that seemed to pour out of Chuck's words. "I'm sorry, buddy, I did the best I could. And I couldn't tell you anything because it would've meant that I had to tell you I was a CIA Agent, and I wasn't allowed."

"Ok, but what about Jill? I'd say you had done a pretty good job with the tests already, did you really have to sleep with her too?"

Bryce seemed genuinely surprised. "Wha-What? I have never slept with Jill!"

Chuck couldn't believe it. "Come on, Bryce, she said it herself!"

"I don't know why she would say that, but I swear to God, I would never do that to you!" Bryce said.

Chuck was shocked to see that Bryce looked like he was telling the truth. He started pacing around "Why would she lie? Why would she break my heart like that? It makes no sense, Bryce. I don't believe you!"

"Look, I know I'm not the most reliable person in the world, but you have to believe me, it never happened!" he firmly stated.

Chuck still wasn't convinced, but he had a job to do, so he stood in front of him and looked him in the eye. "Ok, forget about Jill right now. What about tonight? You killed that guard and you let FULCRUM Agents shoot at Sarah and me on that roof! They could have killed us! And what were you after? What did you take and why?"

"I did kill that guard," Bryce said, his voice full of remorse.

Chuck looked at him with a disgusted expression. "You claim to be one of ours and you kill a guard of a CIA facility?"

"Look, you don't understand how it is. Delgado, the man you captured, was my handler. And by handler I mean the guy who was supposed to make sure I was loyal to FULCRUM. That's why he was there the night I blew up the Intersect."

"But why did you blow it up if FULCRUM wanted it? They obviously think you're still with them, if tonight's little act proves anything," Chuck pointed sharply.

"That night… it wasn't just me in the building. There was another Agent, another rogue Agent who was supposed to help me break in and steal the Intersect data. When we took down all the guards and got in the room…" he swallowed and paused.

"You killed him," Chuck finished for him.

"Yeah, I did. So I planted the bomb and made sure there was no evidence left of what had happened and then I got out. I told Delgado, Cooper had betrayed us and he believed me because I barely got out." He lifted his sleeve above his elbow and revealed a huge scar. "It goes all the way to my back, but you don't need to see that," he added when he saw Chuck's horrified expression.

Chuck swallowed and nodded. "Ok, so what happened tonight?"

"I killed that guard. Not because I wanted to, but because I had no choice. They were watching me and I couldn't arouse any more suspicion on me. The mission consisted of retrieving a flash drive that the CIA had recently stolen from a FULCRUM Agent. I don't know what's on it, they wouldn't say, but if they took the risk of breaking into a CIA building after what happened with the Intersect, it must be something really important." He paused for a few seconds before saying, "And I'm sorry about the shooting, I couldn't really do much about it. If I had blown my cover I wouldn't be sitting here right now."

"Yeah, well, I could've very well been dead by now, so you'll excuse me if I don't accept your apology," Chuck said.

"Fair enough." Bryce glanced at him like he wanted to say something else and looked down again.

Chuck noticed and inquired, "What?"

Bryce's voice was strangely quiet when he spoke. "How's… how's Sarah doing?"

Chuck clenched his jaw. "Well, her partner and boyfriend left her without a word, let her believe he was rogue and then reappeared in her life and shot at her. How do you think she's doing?"

Bryce seemed truly affected by the words. After a moment he said, "I never wanted to hurt her, you know? But there are bigger things, greater things that must be protected, even if that means you have to leave the ones you care about behind."

"That's bullshit." Bryce's shocked expression didn't stop Chuck as he continued. "If you really care about someone, you don't just leave them behind. Just like the fact that you don't make decisions for them. I don't care if you couldn't tell me you had been recruited back in Stanford, and I don't care if you couldn't tell Sarah about FULCRUM. I trusted you in college, Bryce, you were my best friend and you didn't trust me. You ruined my life because you thought it was the best you could do at the time, and I appreciate the good intentions, but they didn't save me from two years of hating myself and everyone around me. And Sarah… you should've known better, man! You were her partner, you guys were a couple, and you didn't tell her! She trusted you, and she doesn't trust just anyone… I know what is like to be betrayed by someone you love… or at least to think you've been betrayed," he corrected when Bryce started shaking his head, "and I can tell you, it's hell. I don't wish that fate onto anyone." After his speech, he sat tiredly on the chair near the couch, burying his head in his hands.

After a few minutes, Bryce finally broke the silence, "She didn't."

"What?" Chuck asked, glancing at him.

"She didn't love me."

Chuck didn't know why, but his chest felt lighter at Bryce's statement. "How do you know?"

Bryce smiled sadly. "I just do. It never felt totally… right. I tried to convince myself that with time she would fall in love with me, but that never happened. I guess when it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be. And she'll probably shoot me the next time she sees me," he added with a small smile.

Chuck felt bad for Bryce. Even though he hadn't quite forgiven him about what he had done back in Stanford, he could understand his reasons. And he had given up their friendship in order to do what he considered was the right thing, just like he had given up his relationship with Sarah to protect her. If he thought about it, it only made him realize how sad and lonely Bryce's life really was and now he knew he wasn't a complete bastard, he actually felt sorry for him. But he had a job to do too. He was a government Agent and in front of him was the CIA's most wanted man. He sighed. "Look, Bryce, I'm sorry about all the things you had to do to protect our country. The truth is; nobody deserves that kind of life. But there's also one issue: I'm now an Agent and I have to arrest you. That means that, sooner or later, your cover will be blown and FULCRUM will know you were double-crossing them."

"It's ok. As long as I hand myself over the CIA, I'll be fine. I just have to make sure there are no FULCRUM Agents involved that could alert the others to come after me before I speak to Graham."

"Well, that's not a problem. Casey and I can go with you and take you directly to him." Chuck said. Bryce nodded his agreement and started to stand up when Chuck asked, "Bryce… do you know Orion?"

Bryce's wide eyes gave Chuck the answer. "Chuck," he said after a few seconds, "I didn't know at the time. I didn't know he was your father."

Chuck just swallowed hard. "Did you ever talk to him?"

"Yes. He communicated with me after Stanford. He thanked me for… you know…" he trailed off and Chuck nodded. "Chuck…" Bryce stood up and looked him in the eyes, "he had to go, he never wanted to leave you guys. He never actually said it, but I could tell he regretted it."

"Thanks, Bryce. Let me go find Casey and we'll take you to Graham so we can end this." Chuck took his tranq gun, put it in the waistband of his pants and went over to Casey's.

The Major opened the door and said, "This better be good, Carmichael, I was about to go to sleep."

"Yeah, I can tell, Casey," Chuck said, glancing at him. He looks like Dennis the menace's father in those pajamas. "Look, I wouldn't have interrupted your precious sleep unless there's something important we need to do." Casey glared at him, impatiently. "There's something important we need to do right now, Casey. But before I tell you anything, you have to promise me you're not going to shoot him."

Casey narrowed his eyes. "Him? Who are you talking about, Carmichael?"

Chuck lifted a single finger at him and said, "Promise me or I won't tell you."

"Fine, I promise. Now spill."

"When I came into my apartment, someone was waiting for me inside. Someone who might have gotten away in a helicopter tonight." He waited for Casey's response.

"Larkin is here? What the hell were you thinking, Carmichael, he could have killed you! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Ok, ok, stop. First of all, I'm alive. And I'm an Agent now, so I can take care of myself. Would you need back up to get into your own apartment?" Casey only grunted and Chuck continued, "Second of all, and get ready for the big surprise, he's not rogue."

"Not rogue my ass, Carmichael," Casey said trying to push Chuck and go across the hallway. Chuck did the best he could to stop him without flashing. He was sure Casey wouldn't appreciate Chuck knocking him out and he most certainly would make him pay.

"Stop, Casey. I swear, he told me everything and I believe him." Casey kept pushing, not listening to Chuck's words. "Hey! Stop!" Chuck yelled. The Major must've been shocked by that, because he stopped pushing him. "Look, I don't think anyone would like to get him in jail more than me, Casey, but I tell you, he's telling the truth. He wants to talk to Graham, but he needs to be sure nobody from FULCRUM finds out before he tells him everything. So we need to take him right now, ok?"

Casey grunted. "Ok, let me change."

"Ok, take your time. We'll be at my apartment." Chuck said, as he got into his house again.

Bryce was looking at the photos he had standing in the living room. He glanced at Chuck when he heard the door. "How's Ellie?" he asked.

"Oh, she's fine. She's working at a hospital back in L.A. and lives with her boyfriend." Chuck pointed at the photo Bryce was looking at, "That's him, right there. He's a doctor too."

Bryce smiled. "Good for her. I still haven't found a better cook."

"And you probably won't. She only gets better at it," Chuck said with a grin, proud of his sister.

"Chuck, about the Intersect… I'm sorry I forced you to become a field Agent. I'm sorry that you had to give up your life and do something you never wanted to do."

"Look, Bryce, the truth is I'm not completely comfortable with this yet, but I like what I do. I like the idea of doing something that makes a difference and helps people. So yes, it would've been nice to have the chance to choose but without the Intersect, I probably wouldn't have this job. So let's just leave it at that, okay? We have a long night ahead of us." Right that moment, Casey opened the door and got in.

"Sure, Casey, come on in," Chuck quipped, but Casey ignored him.

"I've been looking for you, Larkin," he said.

"So I've heard, Casey." Bryce answered. "But don't be too hard on yourself, everyone gets slower with age," he added with a smirk, to Chuck's horror.

Before Bryce could react, Casey was launching himself at him. Luckily, Chuck was fast enough to get between them. "Casey, you promised you wouldn't hurt him!" he said, trying to stop the very angry Major from attacking his ex-friend.

"No, I promised I wouldn't shoot him…" he grunted, while trying to take a swing at Bryce.

Chuck yelled again, since it had proven to be effective before. "Enough. Let's be adults here, ok?"

When Casey finally calmed down, he added: "Let's take him to Graham." Casey just nodded, not wanting to speak and the three of them left the apartment.

The ride to the CIA headquarters was full of awkwardness, in Chuck's opinion, but it didn't seem to bother Casey or Bryce. Then again, he had never been in a car with an ex-friend who happened to be a CIA Agent who pretended to be rogue and the guy who had failed to kill him twice. Three times, if we add tonight, Chuck thought.

They had called Graham on their way, so he was already waiting for them, just like Beckman and…

"Sarah?" Oh, God, this can't be good. She was stiffly sitting in her chair and she barely looked at them when they got into the room.

"Chuck, Casey," she said with a cold voice. She then glared at Bryce, but didn't say anything else. She's so pissed, Chuck thought. He had been sure Ellie's rage was the most frightening thing he had ever seen in his life, but Sarah was like a volcano about to erupt, and that scared the crap out of him. He just hoped she wouldn't shoot, stab or harm Bryce in any other way in front of him. He didn't think he could forget that. And considering the state that Sarah seemed to be in, he doubted that if she did decide to end Bryce's life, it would be in as bloody a way as possible. Chuck didn't deal with blood too well.

Graham cleared his throat, garnering everyone's attention, but Beckman was the one who spoke. "So, Mr. Larkin," the fact that he had been stripped from his title made abundantly clear, "Agent Carmichael told us you have a story to tell us. Why don't you proceed so we can end this soon?"

And Bryce did. He told them everything like he had told Chuck. He explained how FULCRUM had contacted him, how he had found out about the Intersect and how he had blown it up. He told them about the flash drive and everything that had happened on the roof earlier that night.

"I know how it must look now. I know you all think I'm a traitor, but I would've never betrayed my country like that. When I finally found out about what was really going on, I was in too deep, so I couldn't turn myself in. All I did, I did because it was the right thing to do. And I'm willing to share any piece of information I have to take down FULCRUM." Bryce finally stopped talking and the room filled with silence. Graham and Beckman shared a look and they both nodded at the same time.

"You are a true patriot, Agent Larkin," Beckman said, "and we'd be honored to have you working with us again. But first, you'll have to tell us everything you know about FULCRUM. Then we'll give you your next assignment."

"What?" Five heads turned to look at the blonde who had spoken. "You're just going to give him a pat on the back and put him back in the field?"

"What do you mean, Agent Walker?" Graham asked.

"Sarah…" Bryce started, but she just ignored him.

"I mean we should look into his story to make sure he's not actually gone rogue and playing us for fools."

"And we will, Agent Walker, don't worry. We'll take care of this. You, and Agents Casey and Carmichael can go home and get some sleep."

Sarah's mouth dropped in a shocked and offended expression, but before she could say something, Chuck intervened. "We will, General, thank you very much," he said before grabbing Sarah by her arm, dragging her out of the room to the hallway, with Casey following them.

Sarah yanked her arm from his grip and started to walk at a brisk pace. There they go again, Casey thought. "Hey, Carmichael, you need a ride?"

Chuck was already going after her and he didn't stop when he answered, "No, thanks, Casey, I'll walk!"

He finally managed to stop her near the exit. "Sarah, Sarah, wait."

She didn't turn to say, "Not in the mood, Chuck, let it go."

He didn't. "I will as soon as you look at me in the eye and tell me you're ok."

She turned to face him, ready to give him a piece of her mind when she met his kind, worried look. The words died on her throat and she just clenched her jaw and sighed in defeat.

"Sarah, I'm here, please talk to me," he begged.

"I don't want to talk, Chuck, I just want to go home and get some sleep," she said tiredly.

"Ok, I'll go with you."

"What?" She asked, confused.

"I'll walk you to your apartment and make sure you're fine when you get there and then I'll leave. Is that ok?"

"I came in the Porsche, Chuck."

"Fine, you'll drive us to your apartment, I'll go up with you and as soon as you close the door, I'll leave. Better?"

Sarah wanted to scream at his condescending tone, but she also wanted to hug him. Why, she had no clue, but seeing as how she wasn't going to get rid of him or get even close to understanding her stupid impulses any time soon, she conceded. "Fine, suit yourself."

She started to walk towards the exit without waiting for him. The sun was rising and she was beyond exhausted. She wasn't going to get into a fight with Chuck after all that had happened, so she kept quiet the entire ride. She could tell Chuck was uncomfortable, but then again, he was always uncomfortable when he couldn't talk for like two minutes. Why does he always want to talk about everything anyway? She had learned a long time ago that there was nothing better to take off her frustration than a punching bag or a trip to the shooting range. She glanced at him and saw he was looking down, fidgeting with his hands, clearly dying to say something. She let out an amused sigh. "What?"

He looked up at her. "What, what?"

"You want to talk. So talk. You're making me nervous."

"I'm not doing anything. And you said you didn't want to talk," he countered.

"I don't, but you do, so spill it."

"I have nothing to say, Sarah," he stated.

She glared at him and then looked back at the road. A smile slowly started to form on her face, until she couldn't hold back anymore, and started laughing. Chuck quickly joined her, both amused at their childish exchange. She parked the car and got out. Still smiling, Chuck joined her at the front door of her building and they both got into the elevator. It wasn't uncomfortable anymore, and both had matching grins when they reached her floor. I don't know how he does it, but I always end up smiling like a fool when he's around. She only just remembered why she was mad before and that was only because it was kind of huge, but her anger had dissipated. At least for now. She opened her apartment and she got in, but Chuck stood in the doorway. He was standing with his hands buried in the front pockets of his jeans and bouncing a little on his feet.

"So, you're going to be fine?" he asked with an adorable smile.

She had to cross her arms to prevent herself from throwing them around his neck. She took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I am, Chuck."

"Ok, I'll be going now. Sleep tight," he told her and started to walk away.

"No, you're not going anywhere," she said, and he stopped and turned to look at her inquisitively. "I have a spare room, it's already morning and I am not letting you walk to your apartment. And I'm not going to drive you either because that would be completely ridiculous, considering we just got here. So come on in, I'll show you to the room."

"I could take a cab, you know," he said, grinning, but he still stepped into the apartment and closed the door.

"Yeah, but this way I don't have to worry about the Intersect wandering the streets," she replied playfully.

"Ouch," he said, faking a grimace. "Just when I thought you were starting to care about me again."

She turned around and told him "I don't know what gave you that impression, Bartowski. But for the record, all I care about is the super computer in your head."

"Seriously, stop. My heart is broken," he dramatically said, taking a hand to his heart.

She giggled and pointed to the room in front of her. "Here we are. Everything's set and clean. I change these sheets every week, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"You have a lot of visitors?" he inquired.

"No, but sometimes Carina crashes here when she's in town and she's not the kind that lets you know she's coming until she's passed out in front of you."

Chuck remembered they had left her at the club. "Speaking of Carina, where is she? Wasn't she going to stay here tonight?" he asked, worried.

"I think she found a way to keep herself entertained for a while. She didn't even notice we had left and she hasn't called to yell at me about it, so I'd say she's fine."

"Ok, then. I'm just going to…" he pointed awkwardly to the bed.

"Oh, sure. I'll let you…" she nodded and walked out of the room.

"Goodnight, Sarah," she heard Chuck calling. She smiled and bit her lower lip. "Goodnight, Chuck." 

* * *

><p>Sarah couldn't sleep. She was very tired, but her mind wouldn't let her stop thinking about the events of the night. And she wasn't even thinking about the important parts, like the ex-boyfriend who had reappeared in her life. No, she was thinking about the guy who was currently sleeping in her guest room. She turned to face the ceiling. Chuck had been there for her since the very first time she had met him. She still remembered how he had saved her from those bullies in high school. He had been her first friend; her only friend growing up. He had seen beyond the braces and the bad haircut and taken the time to get to know her, when nobody else had given her a second glance before unless it was to insult her. And even when she had left without a proper explanation, when destiny -or faith, or whatever the hell it was- had brought them together again, he was just as kind as he had been when they were kids. And she had been horrible to him, pretending she didn't know him, and then trying to be distant. But he had smiled his way into her life again and now, all she could see when she closed her eyes was his goofy grin and his warm brown eyes. She growled in frustration. She had never spent that much time thinking about anyone. Not even in ninth grade, when she had developed that ridiculous crush on Max Evans. She turned to her side, recalling the feeling she had every time Chuck said something nice. That feeling in her stomach that made her feel like she was going to be sick, yet also felt so nice at the same time. A smile crept into her face and she was horrified to find herself smiling like a crazy person, alone and at… 5:30 A.M. I need help! she thought after glancing at the clock on her nightstand. She sighed and closed her eyes. This time, when Chuck's face appeared in her mind, she didn't fight it. And with that last image, she finally fell asleep.<p>

Sarah woke up at noon, agitated and a little flushed. She hoped with her entire being she didn't talk in her sleep, because she would never be able to get over the embarrassment of the dream she'd just had, which may or may not had involved a certain person sleeping just a few feet away. Shaking her head and trying to get over it, she got dressed and went to the kitchen. Luckily, Chuck was still asleep.

She turned on her laptop and was checking her emails when Chuck stepped into the living room. His hair was a mess and his eyes weren't completely open yet. She had never seen anything cuter in her whole life. Again, she had to restrain herself from giving up all pretenses and launching herself at him.

"Hi," he said groggily, smiling sheepishly at her.

She had to look away. She didn't know what was going on with that body of hers, but she had lost all control over it. She turned her back to him and asked: "You want anything to eat? It's late, so we should probably skip breakfast and have lunch."

"What? No way, I haven't skipped breakfast since I was eight, I think, and I only did that to piss my dad off. It's the most important meal of the day, so we have to have breakfast," he said, matter-of-factly.

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, but asked anyway "Ok, what do you want for breakfast?"

"How about some eggs and bacon? Oh, and French toast!" he said animatedly.

Sarah snorted. "Chuck, I don't even have any of those things…"

"No problem, I saw a grocery store across the street, I'll go get everything we need. I'll be right back."

"Chuck," she called, trying to stop him, but he was already at the door. She sighed. Apparently, Chuck was going to make her cook despite her protests.

Chuck crossed the street with a grin on his face. It was the second time in two days he was going to have breakfast with Sarah. Sarah. He had barely slept, thinking she was just a few feet away from him. But he had seen the hurt look in her eyes, even though she had tried to mask it with her indifferent attitude. She was obviously affected by Bryce's return, but she didn't want to talk about it, and he wasn't going to force her. He thought about how… normal she had been at the club, dancing and laughing and having a good time. He hated that she hadn't been like that in a long time. He could see that she hadn't really been happy, every time he glanced at her and saw a dark expression clouding her beautiful eyes. Even Carina was shocked at Sarah's demeanor at the club, although she had pointed it out rather crudely. His mind inevitably drifted to the dance floor and the way she moved while they were dancing. It was no use in denying it, he felt attracted to her. So attracted that he'd had to make a conscious effort not to grab her and kiss her right then and there. Then again, he had seen how every man had looked at her. She had to be aware of the effect she had on every straight guy. And even when he wanted nothing more than hold her, kiss her and screw the consequences, it wasn't that simple. First of all, she hadn't shown any sign of being attracted to him. Second of all, she was her friend and partner. He couldn't risk making a move and ruin things between them, because that would only make things weird in their personal relationship, and it would also mess with their professional one. So, basically, I get to do nothing until another James Bond comes along and takes her away from me, he thought bitterly. He couldn't bear the thought of Sarah being with another guy, kissing another guy, smiling to another guy. Ever since they had met again, he lived for that smile. Every time he made her laugh was a little victory in his book. He hadn't thought he would ever be able to get over Jill and Stanford, but all of that seemed so… small now. He had a job, a real job, where he got to do important things, and he had never felt for Jill what he felt for Sarah. It was like he needed to protect her, guard her from anything that could harm her. And he'd done that when he tried to save her from being shot the past night. He didn't think about anything but her when he launched himself at her, because Sarah getting hurt just wasn't an option to him.

He paid the cashier and headed to Sarah's apartment. When he got in, she had already made coffee, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Sarah?" he called, but when he heard no response, he went to look for her. When he was in the hallway he heard the water running in the bathroom, so he figured it was his turn to make breakfast. Again.

Ten minutes later, Sarah joined him. She was barefoot and wearing a pair of jeans and a red tank top, and she was drying her hair with a towel.

"Oh, so now everything's ready, you decide to show up," Chuck said, grinning at her.

With the most innocent expression she could make, she told him: "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Chuck narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Next time, you cook, Walker."

She chuckled and sat at the table while he finished the last touches. Chuck joined her five minutes later.

"Wow, Chuck, you're an amazing cook," she said sincerely.

He blushed a little. "I'm not that good. Breakfast, I can manage, but bigger things, not so much. Ellie is the food genius in the Bartowski family."

Sarah smiled. "I don't know, I think you're just saying that so I don't force you to cook me dinner some time." As soon as she spoke, her eyes widened in realization of what she just said. Chuck just stared at her, a slight frown in his face. She blushed and looked down. Oh, stop behaving like a thirteen year old girl! Look at him!

When she finally met his eyes, he grinned and said, "I could make dinner some time. But you'd have to make dessert." Her confused look turned into a smile as he spoke. He started wagging his finger at her. "And no Rocky road this time, something made by you!"

"Oh, you don't think I can do that?" she playfully asked.

He pretended to think about it. "Meh, I don't know. I mean, you're obviously a capable woman, just look at your job, but I'm not sure if you can deal with this kind of stuff. Normal stuff, I mean." He knew he got her exactly where he wanted her to be when she narrowed her eyes.

She knew he was teasing her, but Sarah Walker never ran from a dare. Pretending to be offended, she said, "Oh, is that so? Name the date, Bartowski."

He grinned. Had she just agreed to go on a date with him? "How about tomorrow night?"

She smiled brightly at him. Had he just asked her on a date? "Perfect. That way I can get everything I need. When you try what I'm planning to make, you're going to beg for my forgiveness."

His mind inexorably drifted off to a completely different kind of dessert and a completely different kind of begging. He swallowed hard and nodded. "Ok, so it's set. Your place or mine?"

"You're making dinner, so yours." He gave her a look. "What? It's only fair," she said, shrugging innocently.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he glanced at her and asked her what was on his mind. "So… how are you?"

She stared at what was left of her food and shook her head. "I'm fine."

"Sarah…," Chuck started, "if you don't want to talk to me, that's ok, but promise me you will talk to someone. There's no way you can be 'ok' after your ex-boyfriend shows up the way he did. And I don't buy it after the way you treated us all last night."

Sarah let out a frustrated sigh. "Ok, then how about you? This is the guy who ruined your life, screwed your girlfriend and got you expelled from college. How are you?" she asked in a harsh tone.

Chuck laughed quietly. "Well, at first, I was pissed to find out he had broken into my apartment. I even punched him a few times. And I know I shouldn't but I'm kind of proud I did." She stared at him, slack jawed. The idea of Chuck actually having even one bone in his body that was violent struck her as ridiculous. But she couldn't help herself and grinned a little. "But then, we talked. And as it turns out, he had a reason to do everything he did." When he saw the skeptical look in her face, he added, "He didn't sleep with Jill, if that's what you're thinking."

"Chuck, he could have lied to you," Sarah insisted.

"Yeah, but everything he said made sense. He got me expelled because the CIA was going to recruit me and he didn't think I was going to survive. I'm not justifying his actions, but he meant well. I'm still angry at him for not telling me anything, but I believe him. His actions reminded me of the guy I used to know back in Stanford," he said with a shrug and looked at her expectantly.

Sarah couldn't believe what Chuck had just told her, but he was looking at her with his puppy-dog eyes, so she acquiesced. "Ok…" I can't believe I'm about to do this, she thought, shaking her head. "I'm angry. When I saw him coming through that door, I wanted to shoot him."

Chuck smiled. "He said you'd want to do that."

Sarah clenched her jaw. "Well, he was right, but he's still an asshole. And I don't want to see him ever again."

He chuckled. "I wonder what his mission is going to be after our superiors check his story."

"Don't know, couldn't care less," she answered in a cold tone.

Chuck rolled his eyes, amused. "Ok, I got it. You're done sharing. It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Sarah just glared at him. They cleaned the table and he went to do the dishes, but she stopped him. "It's my turn. After all, I bailed on you with breakfast."

He grinned. "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow then, unless anything comes up at work."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," she answered.

He reached the door and said, "Bye, Sarah."

"Bye, Chuck." 

* * *

><p>When Chuck arrived at his building, he stopped by Casey's to see if there was any update on the FULCRUM situation.<p>

"Nothing yet. They're probably trying to track the flash drive. If Larkin was telling the truth, it has important information and we're going to need it back as soon as possible." Casey eyed him from head to toe. "Did you just get here?"

Chuck blushed, although he knew there was nothing to be ashamed of. "I wanted to make sure Sarah was ok, so when we got to her apartment she let me sleep in her guest room."

"Yeah, I bet she did," was Casey's sardonic reply.

"What?" Chuck asked.

"It's none of my business. Just make sure your lady feelings don't screw up my missions and we're fine," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Casey." Oh, my God, is it that obvious? Even Frankenstein's monster here knows!

Yeah, he has no clue, the moron. Casey would've never admitted it, but he kind of liked his partners, so he thought he may be able to help. "Keep telling yourself that, Bartowski. She's obviously thinking about chocolate and peanut butter. It should be clear, even for you."

Chuck's eyes widened in shock. Even Casey noticed that Sarah had been acting really weird. "Yeah she has been acting a little weird lately."

He knew the kid was slow, but he didn't know he could be so dense. Still, if he still didn't get it after all this time, maybe there wasn't any hope to begin with. He'd just let it play out and see where the chips would fall.

Chuck was torn. He wanted to help Sarah, he really did. But should he confront her? If the Major saw it as well, maybe they could do it together. Then again, despite the fact that she had been distant towards Chuck in the beginning of his career as an Agent, she had been opening up again as of late. It was almost like back at high school. So maybe he could be the one to confront her. "Thanks for the word of advice, Casey. I'll go talk to her about it soon."

"Whatever moron, just see to it that it doesn't interfere with the job." Maybe he got the hint after all. When he went inside, a smile slowly formed in the Major's face. He had read both his partners' files. They were good people that had been through a lot, and somehow, in a world of lies, covers and violence, they had managed to find each other. He couldn't know how it was going to turn out, neither could them, but he had seen how they worked in the field. They really cared for each other, and that was a rare occurrence in their line of work. He just wished it wouldn't come to a point where they had to choose between the job and each other.

He knew everybody thought of him like a cold-blooded killer, and he was, most of the time; after all, he had a reputation to maintain. But he also carried his burden. He opened his wallet and found a picture of a young woman with blue eyes, his blue eyes, smiling at him. He sighed.

Yes, that was a hard choice, and you only got to make it once. 

* * *

><p>AN: and that's it for now. What did you think? Please, let me know by leaving a review. Those are really appreciated :)

Until next time!


	9. Chapter Eight

A/N: hi again! I'm gonna keep this short and apologize for the delay on the update. I also wanted to apologize because the site seemed to change all the italics, which might have made the chapter harder to read. I had to fix this one manually.  
>Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favorites, they make me happy :)<p>

Thanks again to **Aerox**. I own nothing.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter eight<em>**

Chuck rolled over on his back and turned the alarm off. Still not opening his eyes, he smiled and thought about his plans for the day. The day before, he had set up a schedule: In the morning, he had to clean up his apartment and do his laundry; after lunch, he was supposed to play COD online with Morgan and then, a couple of hours after that, he had to start making dinner, because later that night, he had a date with Sarah. He slowly opened his eyes as his smile widened. This was going to be a great Sunday. Just as he was thinking about just that, his cell phone rang. Looking at the picture of the angry Major holding a fork and narrowing his eyes at the camera, he chuckled and picked up.

"Good morning, sunshine!" he greeted. He imagined Casey's expression must've been pretty similar to the one he'd had when Chuck had taken that picture of him, after taking away his lunch and teasingly asking him to smile for the camera.

He heard a disgusted grunt on the other side of the line. "Carmichael, get your ass out of bed and come here! The bosses called, they want to talk to us in twenty."

Chuck smiled. Not even Casey's rudeness was going to ruin his day. "Ok, Casey, I'll be there."

He hung up and got dressed. He deliberately waited until the last minute to go across the hallway.

"Wow, Casey, you look especially grumpy today. You're not an early riser, huh?" he asked when the Major opened the door. Casey only mumbled his response, but Chuck caught the words "dear", "sleep" and "weekend", so he decided not to push it.

A minute later, Beckman's face appeared on Casey's TV.

"Good morning, Agents. You'll be glad to know we finally found out, just exactly what was on the flash drive Agent Larkin stole for FULCRUM. It turns out that it contains a list of FULCRUM Agents and that's why it was so important for them to retrieve it. You can surely imagine how important it is for us to have it back."

"Yes, General," both Agents replied.

"We have a team trying to track it down, but thanks to the information Agent Larkin has provided for us, it'll be easier to do retrieve the drive. We'll contact you when we do."

"What about Walker, General?" Casey asked.

"She's already been briefed about this by Director Graham. Once we have the location of the flash drive, your mission is going to be to bring it back to us. Until then, have a nice day." She disconnected the call and Chuck sighed.

"Ok, so if we get it back, it's going to be a good help to bring down FULCRUM, right?"

"Yes, I guess. But I won't believe it until we see the list, and catch all the rogue Agents that are on there," Casey answered.

"Ok," Chuck nodded. "Well, I have a lot of things to do today, and I'm sure you do too, so I'll get to work. If anything happens, you have my number," Chuck said, walking towards the door.

Casey only grunted, and Chuck went back to his apartment.

* * *

><p>After Graham's call, Sarah decided she would go for a run. She changed into her usual outfit and headed to a park a few blocks from her apartment. She wasn't really a morning person, and she was still asleep when Graham had called, but after she hung up, she couldn't go back to sleep. She'd blamed the sunlight coming through the curtains of her bedroom, the healthy eight hours she'd already slept and the loud ticking of the clock she had in the kitchen, but the truth was, she was just too excited. In fact, she'd had trouble to fall asleep the night before, just thinking about her dat… <em>dinner!<em> she thought, with Chuck.

She wondered what he was going to cook. _Maybe I could bring some wine_. No, that would probably give him the wrong impression. _Or the right one_. She scolded herself for having that kind of thoughts about Chuck. Again. _Something is seriously wrong with me_. Trying to think about something else, she focused on what Graham had told her about the flash drive. If they retrieved it, it would be a huge step to start taking down FULCRUM. _That would look nice on my file_, she thought, smirking. Not that her file needed any more successful missions to look good. Ever since she'd been recruited, she'd trained hard to be the best. Maybe too hard, considering that she had always felt the need to compensate the things she had done in the past helping her father. In the Agency, only her superiors and Carina knew about the special circumstances of her recruitment, and she wasn't planning on sharing them with anyone else. Then again, there was one person who deserved to know the truth more than anybody. She quickened her pace thinking about what Chuck's reaction would be if she ever told him about her life as the daughter of a conman. He'd probably feel sorry for her and the life she'd had, and she didn't want his pity. _I have to tell him, though. He deserves to know the truth of why I left and why I acted that way when we first met at Graham's office_. So she decided that night she was going to tell him. _As much as I don't want to, and as much as I suck at the whole_ sharing _thing_. She reduced her speed and started to walk briskly, while wishing she wouldn't have to reveal her past to Chuck. She was too embarrassed of it, and there were things that still haunted her, no matter what she did, where she was, or who she pretended to be.

Chuck had called Ellie that afternoon to ask her for her Spaghetti recipe, but she hadn't picked up, so he figured she would be at the hospital. He looked for it on the internet, and –letting out a relieved sigh- he found out it wasn't too hard to make. About an hour before Sarah was supposed to come over, he started gathering the ingredients. He actually enjoyed cooking, although he didn't think he was too good at it. The truth was, living with Ellie, you didn't have to learn how to cook; you just had to enjoy eating. But he had managed to make some edible dishes back in college for his dates with Jill, so he figured it wouldn't be too hard.

He had bought everything he needed the day before; remembering Sarah had said she loved Italian food, especially this particular dish. Singing a song he had heard on the radio that morning, he started to go around the kitchen, putting the water to boil, dicing and frying the bacon and making the eggs, cheese and cream mixture. When he was about to finish, he heard the knock on the door.

"I'm coming," he said, quickly pouring the red wine he had bought especially for the occasion in two glasses.

He opened the door with a huge smile, and was met with a similar grin plastered on Sarah's face.

"Hi!" she greeted, truly glad to see him.

"Hi, let me get that for you," he said, reaching for the chocolate soufflé she had brought and gesturing her to come in. "Wow, this looks good! Did you make it?"

"Wasn't that the deal?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow and with a playful tone.

"Yes, it was. You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" he replied, imitating her manners.

"You have no idea," she said, thinking about her earlier resolution of finally telling him everything. Her stomach twitched but she kept smiling in spite of it. _There's no need to ruin the night before it even starts_.

"So, how was your day?" she heard Chuck asking from the kitchen.

"Good, normal. A little boring, to be honest," she answered, approaching to where he was draining the pasta. "Wow, Chuck, are you sure Ellie's the cook in the family?" she said watching him handling the pot and frying pan expertly.

"What, this?" he smiled. "Don't be deceived by its appearance, you still have to try it," he said, winking at her. "Could you take those glasses to the table, please? I'll be right there."

She did as he told her, admiring the way he moved in the kitchen and noticing he'd already set the table, where there was a lighted candle in the middle. She couldn't help but smile at the detail. It was the first time someone cooked for her, and she found that she really liked all the dedication Chuck had obviously put on doing it.

"So… here it is. Spaghetti alla Carbonara for the lady," he theatrically said, while he arranged the plate in front of her. Sarah took her napkin and put it on her lap, smiling at Chuck's antics. _He really is adorable_.

Chuck finally sat in front of her and raised his glass. "I want to make a toast," he said. Sarah gazed at him and raised her glass as well. "To friendship, one of the most beautiful things life gives us; and to reunions, that make possible for old friends to meet again, even in the most incredible circumstances. We, I believe, are the living proof, so I drink to that."

Sarah grinned and knocked her glass against his. "Cheers."

"Chuck, this is delicious!" she truthfully stated, after having a forkful of pasta.

"Really?" he shyly asked.

"Yes, really. I told you, you're an amazing cook," she replied. And she was glad she did, because the way he was smiling at her made her feel like she was the only person in the world. _Damn his smile and his perfect teeth_, she thought, feeling the need to reach out and kiss him.

"So…," Chuck started, "Beckman told me and Casey that Graham had informed you about the flash drive?"

Sarah was surprised to find out she didn't want to talk about work. That was all she ever talked about. "Uh, yeah, he told me about the list," she answered. "But there's not a lot we can do unless they manage to find it."

"Yeah, well… it's always nice to have a vacation," he said, taking a sip of wine.

She was going to agree, but, until now, she'd always been reluctant to have free time from work. "It is, this time." She said, glancing at him.

"This time?" he frowned. "I'm guessing you don't have a lot of time for yourself, right?"

"I didn't. Before this mission I was always travelling around the world with… my partner," she gave Chuck a significant look.

"Bryce," he said.

"Yeah. But then, he disappeared, and Graham gave me this new assignment. Before you and Casey joined me, I was the only field Agent who knew about FULCRUM," she added, proud of having the Director's trust to do such an important job.

"Wow, that must've been exciting… and extremely dangerous," Chuck said, frowning a little.

Sarah shrugged. "It's what we do. It was a great opportunity and I took it."

"I'm still glad you have us now. It couldn't have been easy to have to deal with all of this alone. I know I couldn't do it."

"I, uh… I had some trouble sleeping the first few weeks," she admitted, catching Chuck's attention, "It doesn't make any sense, because I had done pretty dangerous things in the past, but this felt different. I guess, what I'm trying to say is… it's nice to know that I have you now." Chuck smiled brightly at her, and feeling a little overwhelmed, she had to add "You both, I mean. Casey's a good spy too."

"Oh, yeah, sure, Casey, that guy too. He keeps grunting and barking and giving me dirty looks, but I know he likes me," he joked.

"I bet he does," she said in the same tone. _If he doesn't, he's crazy_.

Chuck thought about what Casey had said about Sarah being weird around him. _Now or never_.

"Sarah, can I… can I ask you something?" he asked, suddenly getting serious.

Sarah's breathe caught in her throat. _Oh, God, this can't be good. What does he possibly want to know? Maybe he noticed that lately I'm always about to jump him. Oh, my God, I don't think I could live with the embarrassment if he asks me about that_. She forced herself to meet his eyes. She had visibly paled, and –of course- Chuck noticed.

"Hey, are you ok? It's not that important… I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything…" he stammered.

_Pull it together, Walker, you're a spy, for crying out loud!_ "No, I'm, I'm fine. What do you want to know?" she bravely asked, resisting the urge to divert her eyes to her now empty plate.

"Well… I was talking to Casey the other day, and he said something that got me thinking," he glanced at her, wondering why she looked so… terrified. "I mean, it's just… like you don't want me here, you know?" Sarah's eyes widened in shock, and she was going to protest when Chuck kept talking, "I just got the impression that you weren't all that happy to see me and be partnered with me. Sure, after a while, things changed a little and here we are, having dinner on a Sunday night, no work involved, and I couldn't be happier… but I just wanted to know if we are… you know… ok?"

Sarah's mouth hung open, horrified about Chuck's little speech. _Oh, God, I'm a horrible person… here I am, shielding myself from anything that could hurt me and I end up letting the kindest guy in the world think that I don't want him around. Fix it, Walker, fix it right now!_ She knew she would hate herself if she let Chuck think for just another second she wasn't happy to be his friend again and to have him back in her life.

"No!" _Damn it!_ "I mean, yes! Yes, we are ok, Chuck." She corrected, sighing heavily. "I, uh… I have something I want to tell you. I've been thinking about this all day, and I had decided to tell you before you… said what you just said." She looked down for a second trying to gather the strength she needed to come clean. She gazed at his eyes and setting her jaw before saying, "My father was a conman."

A shocked expression appeared on Chuck's face. He had never seen that coming.

Sarah looked down, embarrassed, not wanting to face Chuck's judgment. "I spent my whole childhood moving around. Because of his _occupation_, we couldn't stay in one place for very long. I… that Christmas morning… I didn't want to leave," her voice cracked, and Chuck's heart stung. She inhaled deeply and looked at him again, a sad smile on her face as she continued, "for the first time in my life, I'd found a friend. That first day, in class, I didn't even say hello to you, and then you saved me from those bullies. I wasn't a loser when I was with you; I was just Jenny. I was normal. And I liked that." Chuck could see the tears brimming in her eyes, and he had to fight a few of his own. "My dad conned the wrong people when we were staying in Burbank. We had to leave in a hurry, and we ran for a few months, until the CIA found us. They arrested my father and Graham offered me to pay for college if I agreed to work for them. With my dad in jail, I had nothing, so I did."

Chuck was stunned. He couldn't believe what she was telling him. All the pain she'd had to go through, and all alone. He wanted to hug her and tell her he'd always be there for her. But Sarah wasn't done. Clearing her throat, she said, "You were right. Seeing you again made me realize that, no matter what I do, I'm still Jenny Burton, daughter of a criminal, and I've never deserved someone like you in my life. I lied for a living; I still do. So yes, I remembered you the instant I saw you, but all those feelings came back to me and I was overwhelmed and didn't want to have to deal with it. I'm sorry for the way I treated you, I was only trying to be professional, to be a spy. I'm sorry that I lied to you, because if there's someone who doesn't deserve to be lied to, it's you, Chuck. You've always been there for me, and all I did was betraying your trust," after she finished, a tear rolled over her cheek, and she looked down again.

Chuck didn't say anything, but he stood up and went over where she sat, kneeling next to her. Making her shift in her chair so she was facing him, he took her hands in his and softly spoke, "Sarah… I don't even know what to say. I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through all of that when you were just a little girl. I'm so sorry that you couldn't tell me, because I would've loved to help you in any way I could; but I'm not mad. You couldn't do anything about it. You couldn't tell me the truth because that would've meant betraying your father. You were put in an impossible situation and you had to deal with it all by yourself. You're the bravest person I've ever met, and I can't tell you how much I admire you. Things haven't been easy for you, and you are still one of the most beautiful, capable, strong, independent woman I know. I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you, and I promise, I will never let you down. You can trust me, Sarah."

Sarah had been about to cry a few times while she was telling him about her life, but what he just said and the way he was looking at her made it impossible for her to hold back the tears any longer. Silently, Chuck reached out and wiped the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. Once she was able to control herself again, she looked at him. He had the kindest expression she had ever seen in her life. Gently, he stood up and, still holding her hands, he pulled at her so she was standing in front of him. Sarah felt his arms wrapping tightly around her waist and his head resting on her shoulder and let out a shaky, relieved sigh. She put her arms around his back and held him close, trying to convey everything she was feeling in that hug. After what felt like hours, but still wasn't long enough, they let go. She looked at him in the eye and told him "Thank you." He just smiled and kissed her in the cheek. She felt her skin burning at the gentle touch of his lips, and a warm feeling spreading through her body. _Too many emotions for one night_.

She silently started cleaning the table, smiling brightly despite everything she had felt while she told Chuck the truth. _I have a friend. A real friend_, she thought.

Chuck was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and thinking about how honest and open Sarah had been with him. He was a little embarrassed now of how worried he'd been that she wasn't comfortable around him, when she'd had to deal with such important things in her life. He couldn't imagine being so lonely. Even in his darkest moments, he had always had Ellie or Morgan to talk to. And it pained him that Sarah had had to go through all of that alone. And quite frankly, he was kind of mad at her father for being so selfish, for putting his needs over his daughter's. But all of that was over now. He was there and he was going to make sure she'd never be alone again. Sensing her presence in the kitchen, he jokingly said, "I hope your appetite isn't ruined, because that soufflé looks awesome!"

He heard her chuckle behind him and then her response, "You'll need a lot more to kill my appetite. Besides, I have to help you; you can't possibly eat all that by yourself."

"Oh, is that a dare, Agent Walker?" he playfully asked.

"No, it's not. You're sharing, Bartowski. But first, I need to go to the bathroom… I think I made a mess with my makeup."

He slowly shook his head. "You're beautiful. But if you insist, down the hallway, the second door on the left."

Sarah ignored his compliment and headed down the hallway. Looking herself in the mirror, she thought the worst was over. Now Chuck knew the truth, and not only he had accepted it and didn't blame her, but he had promised to always be there for her. And she believed him. Smiling brightly, she tried to fix her makeup the best she could. Her mind drifted to the hug he had given her. She couldn't remember the last time someone had hugged her in a non-sexual way. And it had felt good. Almost too good. She'd been reluctant to release him, but she figured she would've seemed needy, and she couldn't have that. So she'd had let go. For now. _I might as well admit it once and for all. If there's a guy I'm going to fall for, I'm glad it's Chuck_. She was surprisingly calm about the possibility of falling for him, and that was news to her. But she would take things slowly, because she wasn't sure how Chuck felt about her, and, to be honest, she didn't even know what to do with her feelings either. All of this was new to her, and there was a friendship and a partnership at stake. She opened the door and was surprised to hear voices coming from the living room.

As soon as Sarah went into the bathroom, Chuck took the soufflé to the table. It really looks great, he thought, admiring it. He looked for his iPod and turned it on, thinking that music could help to light things up a little. Although she had seemed relieved after everything she'd told him. He still felt like he needed to protect her, and, if he was frank, he'd never wanted anything less than break that hug from before, but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He was about to steal a piece of the dessert when he heard a knock on the door. _If it's Casey, I'm going to go all Intersect on his ass and send him home. There's no way he's ruining tonight_. Angry at the interruption, he opened the door with a frown and a not-so-friendly expression. He was shocked to see Ellie and Devon's smiling faces. Before he could say anything, Ellie launched herself at him and hugged the life out of him.

"Oh, my God, Chuck, it's so good to see you!" she squealed.

Trying to breathe and extricate himself from his very strong and no-so-aware-of-her-strength sister at the same time, he finally said, "Guys, what… what are you doing here?"

Devon stepped into the apartment carrying their suitcases and explained with a smile, "We had a lot of vacation days left and Ellie missed you a lot, so we figured we'd come and surprise you."

Chuck turned to look at his sister with an unsure smile "Surprise!" she said.

"Uh… yeah, yeah, that it is." He loved his sister, but she couldn't have chosen a worse time to show up. "Well, come on in, I guess I'll show you to the guest room…"

When Ellie finally took the time to look around her, she saw the candle, the music and the dessert on the table. "Oh, my God, Chuck! You're on a date?"

"What?" Chuck thought it was going to be really awkward to introduce Sarah to her sister, and even more awkward if Ellie recognized her as Jenny. "No, no, this is not… it's not a date, we were… it's just a dinner with a friend," he was sweating. A lot.

"Dude, we didn't know! We'll leave you two alone, we can go to a hotel," Devon said.

"No, that's really not… that's nonsense. You're family, you're staying here." Chuck insisted, but only because he had been raised to be polite. By his sister, who was trying to make him spill about his date.

"Who is she, Chuck? Is someone from your new job?" He had honestly no idea how to answer that. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Ellie, I told you, it's not…" he trailed off when Sarah stepped into the room.

"Dude, well done!" he ignored Devon's high five and turned to look at Sarah, who seemed to be frozen in place.

"Uh… Ellie, this is… uh…"

"Jenny?" Ellie asked, before he could say anything remotely coherent. "Jenny Burton?"

Sarah was shocked. She hadn't counted on Ellie recognizing her, and she didn't know what to say. She finally decided that the truth was the only way out, so she plastered a smile on her face and extended a hand. "Ellie, hi!"

Ellie ignored her hand and embraced her in a tight grip, like she'd done to his brother before.

"Jenny! How are you? How have you been? Oh, Chuck was so sad when you left! How did you to meet again? You look so good, it's so nice to see you!" she said all of that without taking a breath and Sarah had to admit that was quite impressing. Chuck, on the other hand, was the reddest she'd ever seen him.

"Actually, it's Sarah now, Sarah Walker. I had to change my name some time ago. And to answer one of your questions, Chuck and I work together," she said with a small smile.

Ellie frowned. "You… you changed your name? What happened?"

"Ellie!" Chuck tried to intervene, but Sarah just smiled.

"It's ok, Chuck, it's not really a secret," she said. Turning to face Ellie, she added, "I had a… problem with an ex-boyfriend. After we broke up he wouldn't let go. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen and instead he became kind of… stalker-ish. Seeing that a restraining order wasn't going to be enough, I decided to move and have something like a fresh start." Chuck was surprised at her ability to think fast. He could see Ellie falling for that already.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked… it's just, it's so weird to see you after all this years, and then to learn you have a different name…," Ellie seemed truly sorry for making her talk about what she thought was a painful memory to her.

"I know, Chuck called me 'Jenny' our first week working together," Sarah replied, and Chuck quickly nodded.

"Yeah, but I got used to your new name. And I really like it," he said.

Ellie smiled. "It suits you, that's for sure. And I meant what I said before; it's really nice to see you."

Someone cleared their throat, and Ellie finally realized Devon was standing next to her, waiting for being introduced. "Oh, this is Devon, my boyfriend," she said, while he offered Sarah his hand.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Sarah shook his hand. "So, uh…" she didn't really know what to say. She was glad to see Ellie and all, but she was also a little disappointed about her dinner with Chuck being cut short. "So, you guys are staying for a while?"

"Oh, yes, we're staying for a few days. I just missed my little brother too much and had to come to see how he was doing. But apparently, he's doing more than fine," Ellie said, smiling at her.

"I'm fine, yes. I like my job and I found and old friend from high school, so I'd say I'm pretty good," Chuck said, putting an arm around his sister's shoulder.

Sarah smiled at the display of affection. It seemed so… easy for him to be like that, so sweet and caring and just too adorable for his own good.

"Well, we're going to leave you guys alone so you can continue with your date," Devon told them, noticing Sarah's obvious discomfort.

Sarah blushed a little, but Chuck quickly said, "I told you, it's not a date, it's just a friends' night, right, Sarah?"

Chuck turned to look at her too late and he missed the flash of disappointment that crossed through her eyes when he said that, but Ellie didn't. She smiled inwardly, ecstatic that Chuck had been able to reconnect with a girl that had been so important in his life when he was a teenager. Even then, it was obvious for everyone that they cared deeply for each other, and she'd always been sure that, if Jenny had never left, they would've end up being together.

"It's not a problem, Chuck, seriously, we'll go to a hotel tonight, we'll see you tomorrow," she stated.

"No, please, Chuck is right… besides, it's getting late, I should probably go home," Sarah said. Chuck had said it himself, this wasn't a date. And she wasn't going to be the reason for his family to have to pay for a hotel when Chuck had plenty of room in his apartment for them to stay there.

Chuck was happy to see his sister and Devon, but he was also frustrated that their visit was ruining his dat… dinner. "What? No, we still haven't tried your dessert!" he protested.

"It's ok, Chuck. I'm really tired and we have to be up early for work tomorrow, so I'll get going."

Chuck almost let out a whine. This wasn't the way he'd imagined the night would go. But seeing that Sarah was clearly uncomfortable, he didn't complain. Instead, he told her "Ok, then. I'll walk you to your car."

"Chuck, it's not necessary…" she started to protest, but he opened the door, waited for her to say goodbye to Ellie and Devon, and followed her to the elevator. They said nothing until they reached her car outside.

"I'm sorry about the interruption, they wanted to surprise me and they just showed up unannounced," he apologized.

Sarah smiled. "It's ok, Chuck. You're really lucky to have them."

Chuck looked down to his black Converse and said, "I know, it's just… I like spending time with you and I'm sorry we didn't get to finish our dinner." He looked up. "But I'll make it up to you," he added.

"Ok. Maybe next time you can make lasagna," she joked.

"Oh, so this was your plan! Making me feel guilty so you can get another free dinner!" he answered playfully.

She chuckled. "Yes, you caught me. I called your sister and told her to crash our dat… dinner only so I could get another one. Maybe next time I'll call Morgan."

Chuck noticed she had been about to say "date" and the light blush that covered her face when she corrected herself, but didn't say anything. Instead, he told her, "Sure, call Morgan. He'll eat everything."

She smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He watched as she got into her car and fastened her seat belt. "Drive safe!" With one last smile and a wave, she took off.

Chuck stood there for a few minutes, just watching the black Porsche disappear around a corner, and then headed back to his apartment.

Waiting for him was a deeply remorseful Ellie. She didn't even wait for him to get into the apartment as she started apologizing when he opened the door.

"Chuck, I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know you were with her! I just wanted to surprise you and we ended up ruining your date! I'm so sorry, we shouldn't have come," she shook her head and sat on the couch.

"Ellie, come on, don't be absurd! I told you, I'm not with Sarah, and I'm really glad you came!" he sat down next to her, smiling. "So, how was your flight?"

Ellie gazed at him and asked, "So, you've already forgiven me?"

"Of course!" he said.

"Ok." Her face changed and he feared the beast had been awakened. Trying to contain a loud squeal –and failing miserably- she inquired, "So, how was the date?"

"I… I _just_ told you! It wasn't a date!" Chuck knew this was a lost battle.

Ellie gave him a knowing look. "Seriously, Chuck? You cooked for her! Candles, pasta, wine, _chocolate soufflé_?"

"Hey, she brought the soufflé!" he weakly tried to defend himself.

Ellie's smile just grew bigger. "Oh, did she? Did you know that chocolate is considered to be an aphrodisiac?"

"Oh, stop it!" _Like Sarah would ever think about me that way_. He shook his head at the absurd idea. "Now, you're probably exhausted from the flight… don't you want to go to bed?" he asked suggestively, standing up.

She stood up as well. "Yeah, I do. But you do know I'm going to keep asking tomorrow, right?"

"I know, but hopefully, after a good night sleep I'll have more energy to deal with the inquisition," he joked. "Where's Awesome, by the way?"

"Oh, he was talking to his mother in the kitchen, she just called him… Maybe he went to the bathroom."

"Well, then. I'll show you to your room and you can tell him I say good night…"

"Don't you need to brush your teeth?" she said, narrowing her eyes in a way that reminded him of their mom.

"Yeah, yeah… but I happen to have a bathroom in my room too," he grinned.

"Wow, this place is very nice, Chuck! You must do a pretty important job for the company if they gave you an apartment like this."

_You have no idea_. And it was better that way. He could picture Ellie freaking out and losing it if he ever told him he'd been about to get shot about 48 hours ago. "Uh, you know, just computer stuff…," he said, dismissively. "Now, if you follow me…" he started to walk through the hallway until he reached the guest room's door. "Here we are. I hope you find the accommodations to your liking!"

Ellie grinned and hugged him again. "I'm really glad to see you, and I'm very happy for you."

"Thanks, sis. It's great having you guys here. I'll be up by seven and I'll make some coffee for you."

"Seven? Isn't it kind of early for you?"

"I have to go for my morning run," he said, and started to walk away, leaving Ellie with her mouth open. "Goodnight, sis."

Ellie just shook her head and smiled. "Goodnight, Chuck."

* * *

><p>After his run, a quick shower and a healthy breakfast, Chuck was stepping out of his apartment when he almost crashed into Casey.<p>

"Watch it, moron," the Major gruffly told him.

"Good morning to you too, Johnny," Chuck smiled, used to getting that kind of treatment from Casey. He enjoyed the pure rage that appeared in Casey's face every time he teased him.

This time, though, Casey just smirked and asked, "How was your date, Carmichael?"

"What? How… How did you…?" Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind. _He wouldn't!_ "Casey, you don't have me under surveillance, do you?"

Casey shook his head with a disgusted expression. "God knows I couldn't bear to have to see you and listen to you every day! I'm a spy, Carmichael, and I'm good at my job, that's all."  
>Letting out a relieved sigh, Chuck said, "Well, if you were that good, you'd know it wasn't a date." Casey grunted. <em>Sarcasm, uh?<em> "It was just dinner with a friend. In fact, I was going to ask you next," he grinned when he saw Casey's horrified look.

"Over my dead body, Carmichael! Now, if you need a ride, I suggest you to shut up and start moving, or we're going to be late."

"Yes, Sir," Chuck mockingly answered, and started humming, just to bother him.

Luckily, Casey seemed to be in a fairly good mood, because he didn't try to strangle him even once on their way to work.

When they reached the conference room, Sarah was already there, along with Graham and Beckman. Once they sat down, Beckman started, "Good morning, team. We finally discovered who has the flash drive and where he is staying. We suspect he's in charge of recruiting new Agents for FULCRUM. His codename is Leader."

The flash hit him before he knew it. "Wow! That's… that's a big guy! Are you sure just the three of us are going to be able to handle him? I mean… he's really, _really_ big."

Sarah tried her best not to smile at his words. Casey, on the other hand just told him, "I'm a soldier Carmichael, of course _I_ can handle a traitor, not matter how _big_ he is."

Regaining their attention, Beckman told them the specifics; that he was staying at a hotel in the area and that -because they had been able to bug the room-, they he had a meeting at the bar of the hotel, and he would have to be there at least for a few minutes, which would give them time to get into his room and look for the flash drive.

A couple of hours later, they were about to climb through the air ducts. Their plan was easy, but Chuck quickly discovered it was easier said than done. He was too tall to fit comfortably in the ducts, and his body twisted in an unnatural way every time they reached a bend in the ducts. And, to be honest, the sight in front of him wasn't helping at all, considering that Sarah's… behind was kind of distracting.

They finally reached their destination, Leader's hotel room. It was empty, as they expected it to be.

"Ok, we have to move fast, we don't know how long he's going to be away," Casey told them. They started to search every inch of the place, looking for the flash drive.

"Guys, I think I have something!" Sarah said. She was pointing to a safe badly hidden behind a horrible painting. It was an older model, one that still had a little knob you had to twist to line up numbers. "Chuck, you think you can open it?"

"Let's see," he answered. He focused on the lock and flashed on safecracking instructions.

"Jackpot," he said when he opened it and found what they were looking for.

Casey nodded. "Good job, Carmichael, now let's get out of here!"

Chuck helped Sarah and Casey into the air ducts again, and he was about to put the ventilation grille back in its place when he heard voices and the door opening. He motioned Sarah and Casey to be quiet as he tried to hear what the people in the room were saying. Having trouble to do it, he moved a little forward and looked down. Not only did he recognize the second voice, but he also recognized the woman who was now talking to the rogue Agent. He freaked out. He started shaking his head and biting his lips trying to keep silent, but he wanted to scream. Better yet, he wanted to punch something, like right about now. He tried to focus on their conversation, but they were talking too quietly for him to hear more than just a few words. He only learned that they were trying to move -_or was it lure?_- a scientist who was conducting research on some kind of weapon. _This can't be good_. Once Leader was alone in the room again, Chuck gestured his partners to move.

Back at their room, Sarah asked him, "Chuck, what happened? What was all of that about?"

"Uh… Leader was talking to a woman… I think it had something to do with a scientist and a weapon. I couldn't hear everything they said, but I'm pretty sure it's something bad." _It has to be bad if she's involved_, he bitterly thought.

"Chuck, are you ok? You don't look so good," Sarah asked with concern.

"Uh… yeah, I'm… I'm ok. Don't we need to take that back to the bosses?" he said pointing at the flash drive Casey had in his hand and changing the subject.

"Yes, we do. Let's go!" Chuck and Sarah quickly followed Casey to the van and they took off.

Back in the CIA headquarters, Beckman and Graham were more than pleased with their team's work.

"Excellent work, Agents," said the Director, "We'll have our analysts work on the decryption, and hopefully we'll have that list by the end of the day. You're now dismissed."

Chuck didn't wait for his partners, as he usually did. Instead, he headed down the hallway and sat in one of the chairs. He didn't know what to do. He knew he should've said something to his bosses and his partners, but now it was too late. _What was she doing there?_ Could it be that she was just an innocent civilian, getting caught in a trap elaborated by an evil organization? Or was she working with them? He wanted to believe this was all a huge misunderstanding, but something told him it wasn't.

He felt Sarah sitting down next to him. "Chuck…" She didn't know what to say. Something was clearly wrong with Chuck, but he didn't want to share it. She put a hand over his and softly said, "I'm here, you know? You can tell me anything."

Chuck looked at their hands and then at her. Making a decision, he blurted out, "I know who was talking to Leader in that room." He saw the shock in Sarah's face. _If only you knew_. "I don't know if I should tell Graham and Beckman about it. I mean, it could be nothing, I could be wrong."

Sarah frowned. "Didn't you say they were talking about a weapon?" He nodded. "Well, that sounds kind of dangerous. Even if it's nothing, we should look into it. Better safe than sorry."

He looked at her, realizing she was right. He would have to put his work before his feelings on this one. "You're right, I know. Wait here, I'll go talk to Graham," he said as he stood up.

Sarah didn't know what was going on, and, for the first time she could remember, Chuck was reluctant to tell her. She just waited in her chair for him to come back.

When he did, about twenty minutes later, he didn't look any better. After assuring her he was ok, he told her he would walk home and they would see each other the next day. She gave him space, silently deciding that she would ask him about it later.

When Chuck arrived at his apartment, he found a note from Ellie, informing him she and Devon were out for dinner and they were going to be late.

_Great. This will save me from some uncomfortable questions_. He skipped dinner –he had lost his appetite earlier- and went straight to bed. It wasn't easy for him to fall asleep, since his mind insisted on recreating the events from the afternoon. _What was she doing there?_ He asked himself for the gazillion time. Her body language had shown she was comfortable with the man, so it wasn't the first time they talked. _And what about the scientist? What if they are holding him against his will until he develops a weapon for FULCRUM?_ He thought about dozens of scenarios where FULCRUM could use a specially designed weapon, each darker than the other one. It was past midnight when he finally fell asleep, wishing he wouldn't have nightmares this time.

* * *

><p>Chuck was late for work. Sarah was sitting in the conference room, waiting along with Beckman, Graham and Casey for her partner to show up. When he did, there were dark circles under his eyes and he didn't happily greet them like he always did. Instead, he just sat down in the free chair and waited for the briefing to start.<p>

"Well, Agents, you'll be happy to know that our analysts were able to crack the code and retrieve the list of FULCRUM Agents. This is a big step in our fight against them, and you deserve the commendations. You've done a very good job so far, and you've been extremely helpful to your country." Beckman was very impressed by how well the three Agents had adapted to work together, and she couldn't be more satisfied. "This," she added, giving each of them a large folder, "is the information of every Agent on the list. We'll get another team to work on apprehending them. You'll keep working in the dark like until now."

Chuck didn't want to open the file, but Casey and Sarah were already going through it. He started to turn the pages, barely looking at the pictures, until he finally saw the one he was looking for, but hoping not to find.

Casey looked at him and carefully said, "Carmichael…"

Sarah, frowning at her partners' demeanor, kept looking through the file, until she found it too. Her eyes widened in realization. "Chuck, isn't this…?" she trailed off when she saw his expression.

Chuck felt like he was going to be sick. In front of him was the proof he had been so afraid to find. Jill Roberts, his ex-girlfriend, was FULCRUM.

* * *

><p>AN: so? What did you think? It would really, really mean a lot if you hit that button down there and let me know.

P.S. I've already started writing the next chapter and it shouldn't take me this long to update.


	10. Chapter Nine

**A/N**: Hi, I'm back! Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing and just giving this story a chance.

Thanks again to **Aerox**, who made this much better than originally was.

I own nothing. 

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>_

Chuck and his team had been instructed to go home and wait for any developments about the situation with Leader and Jill.

Ever since everyone found out she was the one he'd seen when he was peeking into Leader's room, everyone started treating him… differently. Sarah kept throwing worried glances at him, but hadn't said a word; Casey hadn't bothered him or said anything hurtful to him during the entire ride home. Even Graham and Beckman seemed to look at him in a different way. He was thankful that they weren't asking too many questions, but their silent understanding and condescendence only served to annoy him. Luckily for him, Ellie and Awesome seemed to be enjoying sightseeing in Washington, so they weren't home when he finally arrived. He felt like ripping off his suit and going back to the worn out robe and dirty t-shirt he had become accustomed to these past two years. Too bad he had left them in L.A. . Knowing Ellie, she would've probably found them and thrown them away by now. The worst part about the whole ordeal however, was that he didn't even know why he was feeling the way that he was. He didn't have feelings –well, good feelings, anyway- for Jill anymore, that was for sure. But seeing her had brought him back to the moment she had dumped him. She didn't even have the decency to do it in private. The day after he was expelled, he'd come back, tried to talk to her, but she had refused. He'd sat on a bench at campus for hours and waited patiently until he'd finally seen her going to the library. So he'd followed her. The break up was the worst moment of his entire life. When he had tried to explain what had really happened, she'd told him to leave her alone, that she didn't need him anymore. She said she had been seeing someone else for the past few months, that she was in love for the first time and she wasn't going to go back with him. Chuck could still feel the same pang in his chest that he had felt that afternoon. She had cheated on him. She had been with another man. She'd told him he wasn't good enough for her. And when he'd demanded to know who this guy was, and heard her answer, his world came crumbling down. He had been betrayed by the two people he trusted the most.

And now, after seeing her and even after what Bryce had told him about him and Jill never being together, Chuck couldn't help but feel hurt… and angry. And his partners' reactions weren't helping at all. Then again, he did look like crap. He was well aware of that, but he'd had a rough night. _More like a rough couple of years_. First, Stanford; then his parents' search and after that, the CIA and the Intersect. What made it all worse was the fact that he wasn't allowed to talk about any of that with his sister. And, on top of all of that, there was also the thing he had for Sarah… whatever that 'thing' was.

Growling in frustration and not wanting to think about any of that, he decided a shower may help him feel better. And maybe a nap afterwards. He yawned. _Yeah, definitely a nap_. 

* * *

><p>Sarah adjusted her ear muffs and held her S&amp;W, standing in the classic Weaver stance. Through her glasses, she looked at the target, about 15 yards away. She had gone to the shooting range right after the meeting with Graham, Beckman and her partners. It'd been over an hour now, but she didn't want to go home. She needed this to release the anger she was feeling. <em>If I can't shoot her, this'll have to do<em>. She concentrated and emptied the magazine on the target. Only to her, it wasn't a faceless drawing. It was a woman, a brunette with brown eyes and a cold heart. She could still see the look on Chuck's face when he'd found Jill's picture in that file. He had seemed so… broken. Finally, his erratic behavior made sense to her. She remembered how she had felt when she first found out Bryce was a traitor. She knew exactly what Chuck was going through right now and she felt useless. _I wish I could spare him the pain_, she thought. But he had chosen to close off and get away from it all. And although she couldn't really blame him, it hurt her to be left out. It hurt her that he didn't want to talk to her, because she wanted to be there for him. She wanted to make him feel better. And she wanted to shoot Jill so bad. Sarah couldn't understand why on earth anyone would hurt Chuck the way Roberts did. He was the sweetest, most caring guy in the world, and any woman would be incredibly lucky to be with him, but she had broken his heart and destroyed every bit of confidence he had had. And now, she was working to destroy her country too. _That bitch_. She pressed the button on her left and the target started to move towards her. Sarah looked at the perfect holes in the middle of the human figure and sighed. That Jill Roberts was lucky her bosses wouldn't let her shoot her. But she had sworn she would find the way to take her down and make her pay; for being a traitor and for hurting Chuck. And she would make sure she would never be able to mess with him again. She looked at the target once more, and she imagined her dead brown eyes staring back at her. Oh, yes, Sarah was going to make her pay. 

* * *

><p>Chuck woke up to the sound of someone trying to break into his apartment. Disoriented and still pretty much asleep, he tried to reach his tranq gun under the cushions, but the door flew open before he could. It turned out to be fortunate for him, because it would've been hard to explain to his sister and her boyfriend why he was aiming a gun at them, tranquilizer or not.<p>

"Hey, you're here!" Ellie greeted him, with a huge smile. "I thought you weren't going to come home until later this afternoon."

Chuck got up from the couch and went to hug her. "Nah, there wasn't too much to do at work and my hours are pretty flexible."

Devon gave him a high five when he passed him by on his way to the bedroom. From the looks of things, they had been shopping a little and now they needed a place to put all of the bags.

Ellie smiled happily at him and headed to the kitchen with a few bags in her hands. "Well, that's really good news, because I was hoping we could have dinner tonight."

Chuck smiled at the idea. "Of course! Where do you want to go? I know this amazing place that…"

Ellie interrupted him. "Actually, I was thinking _I_ could cook."

Chuck frowned. "But you're on vacation! Shouldn't you be resting and letting other people cook for you?" he protested.

"You know it's not a problem. I want to make your favorite tonight."

Chuck smiled. "Sis, you know you don't have to, I don't want you to work, I just want you to relax."

"Chuck, I'm making dinner, end of discussion," Ellie said firmly, as she started to pull things out of the bags and put them in the fridge and on the counter.

Chuck really didn't understand what the big deal was about going out, but he didn't have to wait long to find out. Her obvious excitement and her giant grin betraying her, Ellie added, "You can invite Sarah too."

Chuck gave her a knowing look. "Oh, I get it! This is one of those times when you try to set me up. I already told you, sis, Sarah and I are just friends. And no dinner, as amazing as it might taste, is going to change the way she feels about me." He almost winced when he heard her squeal, realizing he had made a classic mistake. He not-so-fondly remembered when something akin to this conversation happened in sixth grade with Lucy Williams.

"And how about you?" his sister asked, not even trying to hide her grin.

He feigned ignorance. "What about me?"

"You just said 'the way she feels about you'. What about _your_ feelings for her?"

If Ellie hadn't been such a great doctor, he was sure she would've made an amazing lawyer. Shaking his head, he told her, "She's my friend, we work together."

"You're deflecting, Chuck, that's not what I asked," Ellie pointed out.

Chuck knew it was useless to try to avoid this conversation, and simply admitted defeat. "Ok, I give up. What do you want to know?"

Ellie smiled softly, "Do you like her?"

_Do I like her? She's the most amazing woman I've ever met. She's smart, funny in her own way, extremely beautiful and one of the best CIA Agents out there_. Of course, he wasn't going to tell his sister _that_. So he just bit his lip and told her the truth. "Yeah."

Instead of the excited scream he was expecting, Ellie just smiled gently and softly said, "You two would make a wonderful couple."

Chuck quirked an eyebrow and in a resigned tone, he told her, "It's not going to happen, sis. Not only is she my friend, but we also work together. Not to mention we _just_ reconnected again. And even if that wasn't an obstacle, she doesn't think of me that way."

Ellie snorted as she started to look for pots and bowls. "Believe me, she does."

Chuck almost didn't hear her because of the noise she was making, but he did, so he had to ask. "What?"

Ellie let out an exasperated sigh. "Chuck, I saw her for like five minutes and I noticed! How can't you?"

Chuck frowned, confused. "What are you talking about?"

_Is he really this dense?_ She felt like smacking him. "I'm talking about the way she looks at you, her obvious disappointment when we crashed your date…"

"It wasn't a date!" he said, for like the tenth time.

Ellie placed the pot she had in her hands on the counter with a bit more force than strictly needed, causing Chuck to wince and repressing the urge to run up to the stove and check for damages, before she blurted out, "Yes, it was, at least for her. And if you had paid a little more attention, you would have realized that! Stop thinking for a moment that you're not good enough and maybe, just maybe, you'll be surprised."

Chuck had a dumbstruck look on his face, and she had to admit, even when he could be incredibly frustrating with his insecurities and his self-deprecating demeanor, he was also a very sweet and humble guy, which sometimes made him oblivious to women's reactions around him. Smiling a little, she said, "Hey, you're a wonderful guy and Sarah knows it. Just give it some time and you'll see." Chuck shook his head at her words, but she spoke before he could. "Besides, I'd really love to catch up with her. I really like her."

Chuck sighed heavily. "Ok, I'll call her. But she's probably busy anyway."

Ellie just shook her head in amusement and rolled her eyes before starting to gather the rest of the stuff she needed to make dinner.

"Hey, babe, you need a hand with that?" Devon asked, coming into the kitchen.

"Sure," she said. Together they moved around the kitchen in sync, under Chuck's jealous scrutiny. What he wouldn't give to have something like that in his life, someone to share the little things with. He sighed and went to look for his cellphone.

To his surprise, Sarah seemed really excited about dinner, and told him she would be there. He was shocked at her enthusiasm because he'd felt her discomfort the other night. He shrugged and thought he would go over to Casey's and ask him if there was any update about FULCRUM, Leader and Jill. He was still a little upset about the whole situation, but, surprisingly, his talk with Ellie had put him in a better mood.

"Hey, guys, I'm going across the hall, I have to talk to a coworker, I'll be right back," he told Ellie and Devon as he walked towards the door.

"Oh, I didn't know a friend of yours lived here! You should invite him too, there's plenty of food!"

He chuckled when he thought about what Casey's answer was going to be, but he told her, "Ok, I will," and then got out.

He knocked on Casey's door. "It's open," was the response from the inside. He stepped into the apartment to find the Major sitting on the floor reading the instructions to set up some sort of electronic device. _Wait a second, is that…?_

"Oh, my God, Casey, is that what I think it is? Please, don't tell me the government has developed a lethal weapon in the form of an Xbox because it would break my heart," he joked.

"Of course they didn't, idiot! I'm just trying to figure out how this stupid thing works…"

"It's not really that hard. Here, let me set it up for you." When Casey grunted and stood up, he started to connect the wires. "So, have you heard anything about Leader and… the other people?" he asked while he worked on the console, deliberately omitting mentioning Jill.

"No not yet." Seeing as how Chuck was doing him a favor, Casey sympathetically asked, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. It was a bit of a shock to the system, obviously, but I should've known, I guess. I don't even know why I was surprised at first. After what she did to me, I can definitely believe she's trying to destroy her country too," Chuck bitterly answered.

_Wow, talk about resentment_, Casey thought.

"Ok, it's ready." Chuck stood up and asked him, "What are you going to do with it, anyway?"

The Major narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you mean 'what am I going to do', Carmichael?"

Chuck lifted his hands defensively. "I'm just saying, you were the one who told me you weren't into these kinds of things. So why the sudden change?"

Casey grunted. "After you mentioned Call of Duty, I went to the store and asked about it. I liked the name and I thought I could try it, that's all."

Chuck's mouth fell. Who knew, maybe the Major turned out to be a closet gamer. "You're going to love it, trust me. And call me if you ever need a partner," he said, unable to keep the light tone of excitement out of his voice. As he was heading to the door he remembered what Ellie had said to him. "Oh, my sister and her boyfriend are in town, as you already know, and she told me to invite you for dinner. She's cooking, and Sarah's coming too. So, if you feel like having a real meal for a change…"

Casey surprised him when he told him, "I'll be there."

Chuck grinned. "Ok, seven thirty. Don't be late." And with that, he left Casey to kill virtual enemies on his own. 

* * *

><p>Ellie had banned Chuck from his own kitchen. Actually, she had done that about an hour and a half ago. He didn't know what she was doing, and he was starting to worry. "Seriously, sis, this is ridiculous," he said for the fifth time when she walked over. Truth be told, it looked like she was skipping. Ellie was definitely in matchmaker mode.<p>

Ellie sighed. "Chuck, I already told you, everything's under control, you don't have to worry about a thing."

"But I'm bored!" he exclaimed. He knew he sounded like a petulant six year old, but he had nothing to do and no one to talk to. Devon was taking a shower and getting ready for dinner and Ellie was… doing whatever she was doing in the kitchen.

"Ok, well, go set the table, this is not going to take long and Sarah and John are going to be here any minute," Ellie said.

Chuck did as he was told. When he finished, Devon stepped into the dining room looking… well, like he usually did; pretty damn awesome. "You need help with anything, babe?"

"No, thanks, honey, I got this."

"Ok." He turned to Chuck and asked "So, that's what you're wearing for dinner, Chuckster?" He was pointing at his red t-shirt.

Chuck looked down, confused. "Yeah, why?"

"Hmm, no reason," he mumbled. Chuck was going to ask when he heard a knock on the door.

Before he could reach it, Ellie was holding it open and greeting a cheerful looking Casey. Chuck blinked in confusion. He couldn't ever remember the Major's facial expression changing from his default: 'Government approved killing machine'. "Hi, you must be John, Chuck's friend! It's really nice to meet you, I'm Ellie, his sister, and this is Devon, my boyfriend," she cheerfully responded, as she did the customary introductions, before inviting him in. She was in full hostess mode as she guided him to the living room and made him sit down.

"So, I see you've met hurricane Ellie," Chuck joked, sitting next to him on the couch.

The Major grunted but smiled a little when he said, "She seems nice."

"Oh, she is," he chuckled and then asked, "So, how was Call of Duty?"

Casey shifted uncomfortably on his seat. "I don't wanna talk about it," he mumbled.

"Ha! I see you're having trouble adapting to the controllers! Don't worry, it happens to the best of us," Chuck said, patting his back.

"I'm a Major, Carmichael, and that bastard killed me with a knife… twice. It's embarrassing."

Chuck laughed and ignored the glare Casey was giving him. "It's just a matter of practice. You'll get used to it soon enough," he said sympathetically.

There was another knock on the door and Chuck jumped off his seat and rushed to open it. Oddly enough, Ellie stayed in the kitchen the whole time. He opened the door and found a smiling Sarah facing him, for the second time in three nights. _I could get used to this_.

"Hey, Sarah, come on in!" Her smile widened and she stepped into the apartment.

"Hi, Chuck." Seeing that Casey was on the couch and Ellie and Devon in the kitchen, she touched his forearm lightly and asked, "How are you?"

Chuck's grin faltered a little, but he said, "I'm fine, thanks for asking. I'm better now that I had some time to process the whole thing." She still didn't look convinced. "You don't need to worry about me," he told her, and lowering his voice he added, pointing to the kitchen, "but that… that you have to worry about." Sarah chuckled at his words, but he gave her a serious look and said, "I mean it. She's been there the whole afternoon making God knows what. And I'm pretty sure she's going to embarrass us both by telling stories of when we were kids."

"It can't be that bad, Chuck, it's going to be fine."

"Oh, really? Do you remember how we were, Sarah? I was awkward, and clumsy, and a nerd…"

"You're still a nerd" she said with a smile.

"Right, but at least I'm not that clumsy and awkward anymore." He was met with a disbelieving look. "Really?"

"It's not going to be that bad, I promise."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Chuck, I think I did one or two things just slightly more dangerous than having dinner with your sister," she told him, playfully patting his cheek.

He just shook his head and followed her to the dining room, where Devon was putting a bottle of wine at the table. Casey joined them at the table, and Ellie finally stepped out of the kitchen. She started serving the food and Chuck and Sarah, who were seated in front of each other, shared an amused look when they realized she had made lasagna. Trying to hide their grins, Sarah took a sip of wine and Chuck ate a piece of bread. "So, you three work together?" Devon asked the three spies, just as Chuck swallowed.

They looked at each other. They had never used their cover story before, and Casey was the one to reply. "Yeah, that's right. I'm an accountant, Sarah is in sales and Chuck is… well, the computer guy."

"Oh, that's great. But you work in different departments, right?" Ellie asked.

"Well, I'm actually always going from one department to another… I mean, you would never guess how many computer emergencies in a day we have," Chuck said, with a light feigned chuckle. He knew he had to do this, but he hated lying to his sister.

"Oh, so that's how you two reconnected, then?" Ellie wanted to know. She was pointing at her brother and Sarah.

Casey cocked his head, but he remained silent. _This has to be good_, he thought.

Chuck glanced at Sarah in a silent cry for help, and she came to the rescue when she said, "Yeah, I was talking to the receptionist, Pam and she was looking for a shipment in the system when her computer froze. The last IT guy had resigned a week ago and I didn't know Chuck was working there, so it was quite the surprise when I saw him."

Chuck smiled thinking that, even when the story wasn't remotely true, it had been a surprise for both of them to see each other again. He looked up and saw Sarah smiling as well.

"Oh, I can imagine how happy you must've been! After all these years!" Ellie said.

Casey was still quiet, but he was listening to every word they said. He didn't know his partners knew each other before starting to work together, and he wasn't going to ask either, but he had the feeling he hadn't heard the last of it yet. Ellie turned to look at him and sweetly commented, "Oh, John, you should've seen these two in high school! They were always together, watching a movie or playing video games, they were adorable!"

Casey smirked and snorted. The dirt he had on Walker and Bartowski now was worth a gold mine. When he glanced at his partners, he saw they were both red and looking slightly mortified. _So that's the story. It would be bad sportsmanship not to use this to my advantage_.

Ellie interpreted his gesture as interest so she kept going, ignoring Chuck and Sarah's clear embarrassment. "Yeah, even Morgan was jealous of… Sarah." She had almost said 'Jenny', but didn't know if John knew about her real name.

"What?" Sarah asked, shocked. Morgan had been Chuck's best friend since forever. And yes, at first he didn't seem to like her very much, but he had warmed up to her eventually.

"Oh, come on, Sarah! The guy came through Chuck's window in the middle of the night just to get his 'Chuck' time. He even made a list of Chuck's favorite 31 flavors of ice cream in descending order just to prove he knew him better than you!"

"Wait, Chuck time?" Sarah started, but she was interrupted when Chuck started chuckling embarrassedly.

"He chased me for a week with that list. God, I miss Morgan."

Everybody laughed at the memory, and after that, the awkwardness was settled and conversation went on without a hitch.

"Wow, Miss Bartowski, this was really great," Casey said with a flair of gallantry that neither spy had ever heard from him before while looking at his empty plate. He could barely move.

"Thank you John. But please, call me Ellie. A friend of Chuck is a friend of mine… except Morgan…" she trailed off, muttering something about him giving her the creeps. "Would you pass me the salad, please?" she asked, perking up.

Casey lifted it and Devon grabbed a hold of his bicep and exclaimed, "Wow, John, I'm impressed. Do you work out?"

Casey relaxed a little. "A few times a week, I like to keep healthy."

Devon nodded approvingly. "That's a good answer, John. And if you're looking for health tips for… let's just say, breakfast, you should come to me. I make this ginseng protein shake, it's been used for thousands years in the East to promote Yang energy and it also does wonders for your…"

"You really don't want to try that, trust me, Casey," Chuck interrupted.

"What are you talking about, Chuckster, you love it!" Devon said, sounding offended.

"No I don't, you made me drink it once and I spent the whole morning trying to erase that horrible taste from my mouth!" Chuck replied, eliciting laughter from Ellie and Sarah.

After some more friendly talk, Casey stood up an excused himself. "I should go, I have to get up early tomorrow," he said.

"Oh, ok. It was a pleasure to meet you John," Ellie told him, while she accompanied him to the door.

"It was great to meet you too." He shook Devon's hand and smiled one last time before heading to his apartment.

Sarah glanced at Chuck. "I should go too, it's getting late and we all have to go to work tomorrow."

She started to pick up the glasses from the table when Ellie said, "No, leave them right there, Sarah, you're a guest. Chuck can do it later."

Chuck was going to protest but knew Ellie was right. "Yes, I'll do it." Sarah just grinned a little, but didn't insist. "I can walk you downstairs if you want," he added.

"Ok, let me say goodnight to your sister and Devon." She went to the kitchen where Ellie was loading up the dishwasher.

"Thank you for an amazing dinner, Ellie. And it's been really good to see you again." The other woman smiled broadly and hugged her.

"It's been really good to see you too, Sarah. We were sad when you left. We thought we were never going to see you again. And Chuck… he missed you a lot."

Sarah felt a lump forming in her throat and she merely whispered, "I missed him too."

Ellie grinned and hugged her once more. "I'm glad you found each other again. And it's great to know you're still good friends."

Sarah just nodded and went to say goodbye to Devon. Chuck was waiting for her at the door, and like he had done the night before, he walked her to her car.

"Well, I guess it wasn't that bad," Chuck said.

"Yeah, we survived! Who would have thought that, right?" she joked.

Chuck laughed. "Ok, so maybe I underestimated her, and she knows how to behave in public. Most of the time. I mean, she did tell some embarrassing stories, after all."

Sarah chuckled. "Oh, but the one of you trying to domesticate the raccoon was adorable!"

"Oh, shut up, Walker, I was ten!" he said with mock anger.

Sarah laughed and shook her head. Regaining her composure and assuming a more serious tone, she told him, "I know you told me you're ok before, but I just wanted you to know that if you want to talk… I'm here."

Chuck stared intensely at her eyes and she was starting to get uncomfortable when he said, "Thank you, Sarah, it means a lot."

She just nodded and got into her car. They said goodbye and she took off, her eyes glued to the rear mirror as she accelerated and left him behind.

When Chuck stepped into his apartment, Devon was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV, which was turned off.

"Hey, Devon… what are you doing?" he inquired.

"Dude… please, sit down. I have to tell you something important," Devon told him in a grave tone.

"Is everything ok? I mean, you look kind of… something. Where's Ellie?"

"Oh, she went to get ready for bed. She's exhausted and I told her we would clean up the rest of the mess."

"Ok, so… what do you want to talk about?"

Devon inhaled deeply and Chuck started to worry when he realized he didn't look like his usual awesome self. He was going to ask what was going on again, when he said, "I love your sister, bro. She's the most intelligent, caring, sexy woman I know. She's brave, she's always willing to try new things…" he trailed of as his eyes glazed over.

Chuck winced. "Ok, ok, I don't need to know all the details, you can go back now, from wherever it is you are," he said gesturing with his hands.

Devon seemed to snap out of his daydream and looked at him. "The thing is, I'm sure I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and you're the only family she has left. I want to do this right, so I wanted to ask you…" He pulled a little box out of his pocket and opened it in front of Chuck, "if I could have your permission to marry Ellie?"

Chuck was dazzled by the huge engagement ring. _She will never be able to lift her hand again_, he thought. But this was Ellie, and she deserved the best of the best. "Yes! Yes! Of course, of course you can," he said.

Devon smiled relieved, and, before he could fully wrap his head around what was going on, Chuck found himself being crushed by his now soon-to-be-brother-in-law's embrace.

"Ok, ok, that's good, we're good," he mumbled, trying to get out.

"Dude, that's awesome! You think she'll like the ring? It was my great grandmother's."

"She's going to love it, Devon. I'm very happy for you guys!" Chuck said truthfully.

"Thanks, bro. I still have to think on how to pop out the question, but I want to do it soon."

Chuck smiled and stood up. Patting one of Devon's shoulders, he encouragingly told him, "I'm sure you'll come up with an awesome idea, Captain."

Chuck went to bed thinking about his day. He had been sure it was going to be like one of those depressing days right after Jill had dumped him, but the truth was, he was ok. He was more than ok, actually. Finding out about Jill had helped him realize that his partners cared about him, and even his bosses did, in a way. And now, his sister was going to marry this… well, awesome guy, and he couldn't be happier for her. Before falling asleep he came to the realization that, no matter what happened with Jill and FULCRUM, nothing could ruin the contented feeling that was fluttering through him. 

* * *

><p>Boy was he wrong. "Excuse me, General, you want me to what?" he agitatedly asked, very conscious of his partners' eyes following him while he paced around the conference room.<p>

"Agent Carmichael, this is the only way," the General tried to explain.

"No! No, no, no, no… this is the CIA, there has to be another way! Why does it have to be me, anyway? Why can't Casey do it?"

Graham snorted and Casey glared at him, but he kept quiet. "Chuck, you have a previous relationship with her, it'll be easier for you to gather the information we need," the Director said.

Chuck couldn't believe what they were asking him to do. "Don't you get it? She dumped me! Why would she want to talk to me in the first place? Or why would she gladly share her secrets with me, for that matter? Besides, I don't want to see her again."

Sarah hadn't said anything in the fifteen minutes they had been there. The briefing had taken about five, and the rest of the time, they had been trying to convince Chuck to go through with the plan. She had been relieved when she saw his reaction, because, after everything she knew, she was still afraid that Chuck may still have had lingering feelings for Jill Roberts. He clearly didn't, and that made her inexplicably happy.

Graham had apparently had enough when he raised his voice and said, "Look, Carmichael, we're not asking here. You have your orders and your mission. Go do your job."

Chuck stood still and was about to say something when he closed his mouth and sat down, his head down and a dejected expression on his face.

"So, now that we are clear about everybody's role in this assignment, are there any questions?" Graham asked. Both Casey and Sarah shook their heads, while Chuck seemed to be in his own little world of misery. Beckman and the Director left the room, leaving the three spies alone.

"Hey, Chuck, it's going to be ok," Sarah tried to cheer him up. "Casey and I will be there and we'll be able to help you if anything happens." What she really meant was 'If that bitch tries to hurt you, I'll kill her,' but she didn't think it would be wise to tell him that. She had an inkling that Casey wouldn't really condone it either. That, or he'd try and kill her himself. She had no intention of letting anyone but her put a bullet through those stupid glasses.

"But I don't want to see her and I don't want to talk her," he whined. It was annoying… it should've been annoying… but Sarah found it completely adorable.

"Oh, come on, Carmichael, grow a pair! The only thing you have to do is find out what her affiliation is with this LeFleur guy and what their research is about," Casey intervened.

"But didn't they just say that LeFleur was being held against his will? She's not going to willingly tell me she kidnapped a scientist and has him tied up in a basement until he finishes the bio-weapon FULCRUM wants to use in their fight against the government!"

"No, Chuck, but she might slip or give us a clue of where they might be holding him. I'm sorry, I don't like this either, but I think this is the best plan, considering the circumstances," Sarah said.

Chuck thought about it for a second. "Ok," he said, "I'll do it."

"Sure, listen to the skirt," Casey silently grumbled. 

* * *

><p><em><em>

"Are you sure you can do this?" Sarah asked for the second time.

After going over the plan three times, Chuck was feeling a little more confident. "Yes, I'll just pretend to run into her and then ask her for a coffee. It shouldn't be too hard. And if she says no, I can always play the _annoying ex_ part," he said.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll be playing a part," Casey said while he checked the earpieces.

Sarah gave him a dirty look, but Chuck ignored him. Jill was going to be giving a conference about infectious diseases at a hotel, and he would be there at a business meeting concerning his successful software company. He just had to convince her to go out with him and pray that she told him anything useful for Graham and Beckman. He wasn't sure what they would make him do if this didn't work, but he was sure he wouldn't like it.

"Here, put this in," Sarah said, giving him an earpiece. "We'll be right there, so if she tries anything, we'll get her," she added, straightening his tie and brushing some invisible lint off his suit.

Casey cleared his throat, "The conference is going to be over soon, let's go."

They arrived at the hotel and Chuck went over to seat at the bar. Casey and Sarah were sitting in a booth, and they seemed to be having a fascinating conversation. _Must be about guns_, Chuck thought, not knowing what else they could have in common. When he looked up again, he saw Jill leaving the conference room.

"Guys, I see her," he whispered into his watch. "Engaging target." The words sounded foreign on his lips but he had no issues with branding her as one.

"Ok, Carmichael, we got your back," he heard Casey's reply in his ear.

Chuck stood up, grabbed his briefcase, and pretended to be in a phone conversation about work when he bumped into Jill at the entrance of the bar.

He merely looked at her when he apologized and kept talking to his phone.

"Chuck? Chuck Bartowski?" he heard her say.

"I'm sorry, wait a second," he said to his phone, then, turning to Jill, he asked, "Excuse me?"

"Chuck! It's me, Jill Roberts!"

He lifted a single finger, indicating her to wait while he ended his feigned conversation, "I'm sorry, Mike, I'll have to call you later. Are we still on for golf next Saturday? Great, I'll see you then." He put his phone back in his pocket and then made eye contact with Jill for the first time in two years. "Jill, what a surprise! What brings you here?"

Jill was shocked by Chuck's cool behavior. He was so different from the awkward nerd she remembered. And she had to admit, he looked good in a suit.

"Uh… I was just at a conference in the room next door…" she said.

"Oh, yes, I read something about bugs and diseases…" he joked.

"Infectious diseases, yes. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I had a meeting before and I thought I could celebrate with a drink. We just closed a million dollar deal."

_He's definitely different_. "Wow, that's impressive, Chuck." She thought about her obligations and decided she could afford a couple of hours with him. "Hey, I'm free for the day, do you want to go have a coffee and catch up?"

_No I don't_, Chuck thought, but, controlling his gestures, he managed to hide his disgust and gave her a charming smile. "Sure, I have nothing better to do right now." He guided her to a table and pulled her chair out for her.

After the waiter came and took their orders, Jill broke the silence. "So, I see you're an important business man now. What did you do after Stanford?"

"Oh, well, I needed a change of pace, so I started working on some software. I finished it and three months later, I sold it in a very good deal, which provided me the capital I needed to start my own company. And here I am," he nonchalantly shrugged, kind of wishing his cover story was true. "What about you?" he reluctantly asked her.

"Well, I got my PhD in biomedical engineering and I've been working on some interesting researches."

"Wow, that sounds… not interesting at all," he joked.

She laughed, remembering he'd never liked anything remotely related to medicine. "It's better than it sounds, trust me."

Jill was really enjoying the impromptu date, and she was surprised she was. Chuck had always been a nice guy, but nothing like Bryce. Bryce was exciting, sophisticated and dangerous. Chuck was safe, and safe was boring. That's why she had fallen for Bryce in the last year of college and why she had lied about sleeping with him to Chuck. She had been looking to get rid of Chuck for a long time, and when she saw her opportunity, she didn't hesitate to snatch it with both hands. And he had obviously recovered. He was a successful business man now and every pore in his body exuded confidence. His demeanor was… cold, and that was a change from the always sweet and caring and suffocating Chuck she had known. She liked this one better. She wondered what other things this Chuck was hiding in his… sleeves.

"So, you still live in LA?" she asked.

"Yes, the main office of the company's there, but I'm traveling all the time. I think it's safe to say I live in hotels now."

"That must be exciting, always going to new places… seeing new people…" she smiled seductively as she put a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Sarah was watching them from the booth, while Casey had his back turned to them. She couldn't believe how Jill was flirting with Chuck. Even when they couldn't hear the conversation, it was obvious she was coming onto him, although he had made no signs to reciprocate. She kept watching them as they talked, just barely being able to hide her anger under a calm demeanor. Her insides however were a boiling cauldron of rage and anger. What she wouldn't give for Jill to slip up so she could put a bullet through her skull.

Chuck was very proud of himself. He hadn't stammered once and he was playing his part effectively. In fact, he noticed Jill was hitting on him. It had been barely noticeable at first, but she wasn't all that subtle anymore.

"You know? I'm staying right here tonight," she said, with a predatory look, "maybe we could take this conversation to my room?"

Chuck almost choked, and silently thanked God her cell phone rang before he had to answer. He couldn't believe, after everything she had done to him, she was actually inviting him to her room. That wasn't going to happen ever again. After this mission, he was done with her. He listened while she talked on the phone. Apparently, she was still close to her mom.

"No, mom, he moved to Black Rock last week," he heard her say, and then, the flash hit him.

His eyes widened when he realized that she wasn't really talking to her mother, and he smiled inwardly, thinking that he would have something for his bosses after all. His personal hell had been worth it, for now he knew exactly where LeFleur was. He only had to get rid of Jill and tell Sarah and Casey what he had found out.

"I'll call you later. Bye mom!" Jill disconnected the call and looked at him. "I'm sorry; she wanted to know how the conference went."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I totally get it. She's just a mother showing support for her little girl," he smiled charmingly.

"So, did you think about my offer?" she asked, with a seductive smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I did. And I'm sorry, but I have to decline. I have a date in an hour," Chuck said.

Jill's face fell and she failed when she tried to hide it. "Oh, oh, sure… I totally understand."

"Well," Chuck said, standing up and grabbing his briefcase. "It's been a pleasure, Jill, I'm glad we did this. Good luck in your life," he added, extending a hand to her, which she shook with a confused and slightly offended expression. Before she could say anything, he was walking out the door.

Casey and Sarah joined him at the van around the corner. He took a deep breath and got in, glad it was all over.

"You did great, Chuck!" Sarah told him.

"So, did you manage to find anything useful, Carmichael?" Casey asked as he started the van.

"Yeah, I think I know where they are keeping LeFleur. Someone called her and she pretended to be talking with her mother, but, unless she's FULCRUM too, she was definitely talking with a FULCRUM Agent. She said 'someone' had moved to Black Rock last week, and I flashed. Black Road is a code name for protocol seven, a secret FULCRUM base in Silver Spring. I'm pretty sure that's where LeFleur is."

"It makes sense, since he was reported missing last week. Great job, Chuck," Sarah smiled brightly at him and he knew the past hour had worth it.

"We have to tell the bosses now. We don't know how much longer it'll take him to finish the weapon," Casey said, and both Sarah and Chuck agreed. 

* * *

><p>Graham and Beckman were thrilled to learn about Chuck's findings and they told them they were going to send a team to rescue LeFleur. They congratulated them once more for their excellent work, and sent them home. Once they secured the scientist, they would be able to gather any FULCRUM information he had.<p>

Chuck was exhausted when he got home, and he went straight to bed. He had managed a quick goodbye to Sarah before taking off with Casey. He kicked off his shoes and suit and landed in his bed with a thump. He dozed off almost immediately. It was after midnight when his phone rang.

"Carmichael, we have a problem," Graham's voice filled his ear, and his serious tone made him realized something was wrong.

"What is it, Sir?"

"We've found the place LeFLeur was being held, but we were too late. He was dead when our team found him."

Chuck took a moment to take in this information. Another life had been taken and now, FUCLRUM had the bio-weapon, and who knew what they intended to do with it. Chuck run his hands through his face. This was going to be a long night. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: So? What did you think? Please, leave a review and let me know! 


	11. Chapter Ten

**A/N:** Hey! I'm back! I'm aware it has taken me a ridiculous amount of time to post this, but this was a hard chapter for me to write, and I would still be stuck if it wasn't because of **Aerox**. Oh, and you have to thank him for that last scene too (I kind of didn't want it to happen :P). And for making this readable.

Thank you all for reading, reviewing and putting this story in your alerts and favorites, it means a lot. I hope you like this.

I don't own Chuck or HIMYM (again, **Aerox**'s reference) or any other show mentioned in this or any other chapter.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>_

It had been a couple of days since they had found LeFleur dead in the FULCRUM base in Silver Spring, and Chuck could sense his bosses were getting nervous. They still hadn't located the bio-weapon and they had no clue when or where FULCRUM was planning to use it. Aside from the (admittedly large) fear of knowing that a virus could be released at any moment, pretty much anywhere in America, he was having a great time. Since there wasn't too much for him or his team to do, he had been hanging out with Ellie and Devon, and he was happy to spend time with his family. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed them until they had showed up and surprised him. Unfortunately, they would be leaving soon. It had been nice to have someone to talk to in the past few days, and, without even knowing it, once again his sister had been there for him when he needed her the most. He still felt guilty about not telling her the truth, but he knew it was the best for everyone. He couldn't bear the thought of Ellie or Devon getting hurt because of him or what he did for a living. He hadn't forgotten about his search for their parents, and that was another thing that made him feel guilty. He knew Ellie deserved to know what they really did and who they worked for, but he would have to explain how he had found out, and that was out of the question. However, he could talk to her and try to get something useful for his search. Truthfully, he hadn't made any progress aside from what he'd read on the files Graham had given him.

So that night, after they had had a few drinks and Devon went to bed, when Ellie and him were sitting on the couch in the living room reminiscing stories from their childhood, he casually asked her, "Hey, remember that car dad had? The burgundy '68 Mustang?"

Ellie smiled. "Yes, I used to love that car. He had special ordered those blue leather seats."

"He used to take us all to the beach when we were kids. We had some good times in that car," Chuck said.

"We did. And because I was the big sister, mom and dad let me ride on the front seat with them, with my legs crawled up. I always ended up asleep on those rides."

"I guess I was too little to remember that. In fact, there's not much that I remember," he told her. Taking a sip of his beer, he added, "What I do remember is mom travelling a lot and dad never leaving the basement."

"Yeah. I guess things weren't that good between them. I never knew what dad did, he never let us go down there." Ellie shrugged and continued, "For the time he spent working I would've thought he was trying to build something, but when he left there was nothing there, just some notebooks and schematics, but nothing really important. I think maybe he was already losing his mind."

Chuck desperately wanted to tell her that their father wasn't crazy, that he was in fact one of the most brilliant scientists that had ever worked for the CIA, but he couldn't. "Maybe he was. I remember one Sunday morning when mom went down to see him, though. It was about a week before she left. I remember she came back crying, and when I asked her what was wrong, she said she was crying because she was so happy to see us all again. Then she took me to the park. She even bought me ice cream that afternoon." He remembered everything about that day. It was a cool October afternoon and he and his mom had gone to the park a few blocks away from their house. She had brought the camera with her, but he never got to see any of the pictures she took. They went to get ice cream and she let him have a double scoop. Six days later, she was gone.

"It's sad, you know?" Ellie said, regaining his attention. "If she ever cared about us she could've just divorced dad; but she chose to leave instead. What kind of mother does that to her children? I'll never understand her. Sometimes I think her departure was the best thing that ever happened to us." Chuck looked at her, incredulous. "Don't give me that look, Chuck. She clearly didn't care about us, and we did fine without her. She ruined dad's life until he couldn't take it anymore and ran away too. And I'm not defending him either. His duty as a father was to stay with us. If you can't take the responsibilities that come with being a parent, then don't become one." He was surprised by the harshness in her tone. Ellie's look softened when she said, "But at least we had each other."

That much was true. The day after their mom left, Chuck blamed himself. He had given her trouble to go to sleep the night before, and he was sure he was responsible for her leaving. He knew it was ridiculous now, but it didn't seem that way when he was nine. After that, their father had become even more obsessive and paranoid about his work, and he barely left the basement. Ellie had taken care of him, making him dinner, helping him with his homework and buying him clothes and everything else he needed. She was the one who had raised him and he would always be thankful for that.

"I know. I don't know what I would've done without you. You gave up a lot of things for me. I will never be able to repay you for all the sacrifices you made so I could turn out to be a decent human being," he half joked.

She chuckled lightly. "Well, you can always come to visit more often, you know? One weekend every couple of months wouldn't kill you…"

"Hey!" he said defensively, "It's only been two months since I left! I was going to visit, I was just trying to adapt to the whole 'living alone and having a real job for a change' thing."

"I know, I know. I just… I've missed you. I guess I was used to have you around, you know?"

Chuck smiled and put an arm around her shoulders. "I know, sis. I've missed you too."

They kept quiet for a few minutes until Ellie broke the silence. "Morgan misses you too. He comes once a week for dinner," she confessed abruptly.

Chuck's jaw dropped in shock. His sister and his best friend were actually getting along now, when he was living in the other side of the country? "What?" he asked.

Smiling a little Ellie told him, "Devon started it. He found him lying in your bed one evening, holding one of his toys and staring at the wall, where your Tron poster used to be."

"We don't have toys, Ellie," he pointed out dryly. "We have collectibles, thank you very much."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Whatever. He was mumbling something about some _chewy_ guy losing Han forever and seemed miserable. I wanted to call the cops and get a lock for that damn window once and for all, but Devon invited him for dinner instead."

Chuck laughed. "And I take it dinner was a success and he kept showing up?"

"Exactly. He even made a menu that I'm supposed to follow, can you believe that?" she asked.

"Actually, I do. I wouldn't expect anything less from Morgan," he smiled, thinking about Han Solo standing alone on the shelf in his bedroom. He definitely missed Chewbacca too.

Ellie cleared her throat. "So… have you talked to Sarah lately?"

Chuck smiled and shook his head. "No, I haven't." Technically, he had, but those conversations had been only work related.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, Chuck. That girl is so into you she can't even hide it and here you are, not doing anything about it. What are you waiting for?" she asked.

Chuck still had his doubts about Sarah being into him, but he thought it wouldn't be wise to tell his sister that. She would probably smack him and then say he deserved it. "I… I just don't want to screw it up. I'd like to be her friend, and having her back in my life is one of the best things that's happened to me in the past two years."

"Chuck, I'm not saying you have to go and confess your undying love for her..." He narrowed his eyes at her, but she kept talking, "I'm just saying that maybe you could try a different approach."

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked.

"You know, little things. Maybe take her out sometime, or watch a movie. I'm not going to say 'date' because you seem to have a problem with that particular word," he rolled his eyes, amused, "but you know… things friends would do. And keep your eyes open for any signs she may give you. Hopefully you'll have the proof you need before you both end up in a nursing home chasing each other in Zimmer frames."

"Ok, I can do that. Hang out as friends and see where that leads us. That was my original plan, anyway," he said, quirking an eyebrow.

Ellie slapped him in the shoulder. "As far as I've seen, your plan consisted in denying your feelings for her and refusing to acknowledge her feelings for you. So shut up."

He smiled brightly. "This reminds me of the time we had 'the talk'." It was a lie, that time had been a whole different kind of awkward, but he knew that would make her drop the subject.

Ellie's eyes widened and she blushed as she stood up. "Oh, my God, Chuck, you swore you were never going to bring that up again!"

"Oh, but it was so sweet of you." She gave him a dangerous look and he stood up as well, trying to put some more distance between them. "Of course, it was also extremely awkward, but, hey! You did your best."

Ellie grabbed a cushion from the couch and threw it at him. It hit him square in the face, and she started laughing. "Well, how was I supposed to know you already knew all that stuff?"

"Ellie, I was _seventeen_ and I didn't live in a bubble! That should've been your first clue," he was laughing too now.

Looking back on it all, she had to admit she _had_ postponed it for a little too long. But she was only four years older than Chuck and didn't know much either. Taking care of your brother while trying to get good grades in college tended to do that to your social life. "Ok, fine, you're right. I was just trying to be responsible."

Chuck walked towards her. "I know. And that's why I love you. I was very lucky to have you. You were not only a sister but a friend too."

Ellie looked at him, moved by his words. For the first time, she realized her little brother had become a man. A good man. She enveloped him in a hug and whispered, "I love you too, Chuck. And I can't tell you how proud of you I am."

He smiled. It didn't matter that his life had never been normal. It didn't matter that his parents had abandoned him, for whatever reason they'd had. And it didn't matter that many important people in his life had betrayed him, because he'd had always had her. He had all the family he needed and he was holding it right now. As long as he had his sister, he was going to be fine. 

* * *

><p>The next morning, Chuck was at Casey's, and they were sitting on the couch, waiting for their bosses' call. They both had a cup of coffee in their hands. "You think this is about the bio-weapon?" Chuck asked with concern.<p>

"I sure hope it is," he grunted in reply.

Before Chuck could respond, Beckman's face appeared on the screen. "Good morning, Agents. We finally have a lead on the bio-weapon Dr. LeFleur was building. It's a strain of Influenza so deadly, it can kill a person within one hour if exposed. He worked for the same company Jill Roberts did, which is how we think FULCRUM was able to reach him. We believe they tried to convince him to work for them first, and after he rejected them, they kidnapped him and forced him to do what they told him. We had an Agent watching Roberts in case she tried to escape, but the night we found LeFleur's body, she managed to elude him and disappeared. We haven't had any news about her since then."

Chuck couldn't believe it. "What? You let her get away? She's a FUCLRUM Agent! Why didn't you arrest her after I talked to her?"

"We're trying to get the big fish, here, Carmichael. We thought she may lead us to him," said Beckman.

"Yeah, look how that turned out…" Chuck mumbled under his breath.

Casey cleared his throat and asked, "Do we know when FULCRUM plans on using this weapon, General?"

"We suspect that they are going to use it today, at the convention. Today's the final day and they may be trying to make a statement. Dr. LeFleur was supposed to give this final presentation, so they may even confess his murder to generate more panic and get other scientists to cooperate with them. In no way can we let this go public. As far as everyone's concerned, he died from a heart attack in a cabin he had rented for a vacation. Luckily for us, he tended to be quite… eccentric, so nobody questioned the story. Now, we have to focus on stopping FULCRUM and keeping them out of the public's eye."

"So, what are our orders?" Chuck inquired. He was still mad they had let Jill escape like that, but there were more important things to deal with right now.

"You are going to the convention and you have to stop the release of the virus. Under no circumstances should civilian lives be put in danger," answered Beckman.

"I agree, but how do we do that? Wouldn't it be better and safer for everyone if we just cancelled the conference?" Chuck pointed out. He wasn't sure about this plan, and if they were too late, many people could die.

"It would be, Agent Carmichael, but we don't want to alert FULCRUM or let them know we're after them. This is our best shot to catch the people responsible for Dr. LeFleur's death."

Chuck thought about it. He still didn't like it, but now they had an advantage. The General was right, FULCRUM didn't know the CIA was onto them, and if everything went as planned, they would arrest a few rogue Agents by the end of the day. So he just nodded and said, "Understood, General."

Beckman gave them the last instructions and she disconnected the call. Sarah joined Casey and Chuck about twenty minutes later. They'd all agreed that she would be the one giving the presentation while Casey would pose as part of the public and Chuck would be outside, keeping an eye for any possible suspects.

After they were all set, they headed to the hotel. They spotted three CIA men near the entrance and two other posing as security guards. Sarah and Casey went into the conference room, and Chuck stayed outside, pretending to read some brochures, while he scanned the people around him, trying to find anything suspicious. He finally saw the conference room door closing, and he spoke into his watch, "Casey, Sarah, everything seems fine out here."

"Copy. Same here, but keep your eyes open, Carmichael," was Casey's response.

Sarah walked up to the stage after being introduced and arranged the microphone in front of her. She silently cleared her throat and took a deep breath. _Show time_.

"Yes, good day, I'm Dr. Eva Anderson and I'm here to talk to you all today about a deadly poison that could change the course of human science. I'm honored to stand before you all today on behalf of Dr. LeFleur. He was a brilliant man and he will be missed…" she trailed off when she saw a guy standing up and reaching for something on his briefcase. "Uh, excuse me, I have to go to the loo…" she said and started to run after him.

Casey saw him too, but instead of following him when he left the room, he went to the spot where he'd been sitting and found a device under the chair. Unfortunately, the virus was already being released, so he gave orders to seal the room. "Carmichael!" he said into his watch, "the virus has been released, we're locked in here. You need to get the antidote, or everyone here is going to die." Then, he spoke up, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a NSA emergency, nobody, I repeat, nobody gets in or out."

Sarah ran after the guy, who was now heading down the stairs. She yelled for him to stop, but he kept running. Finally, she cornered him against the wall. "It's over, drop the gun," she said, aiming her S&W at him. The man just smiled at her. "I said drop it!" He started lifting his gun, but Sarah was faster. One single shot in his chest and he was lying dead on the floor. "Damn it!" she mumbled as she tried to find some kind of ID in his pockets. "Casey, I got him, but I had to shoot him. He has a CIA badge, but I couldn't find anything else," she said into her watch.

Casey answered immediately. "That's great, Walker, but we have bigger problems in here. Find Chuck. You need to get the antidote or we'll all be dead in an hour."

Chuck was panicking. He had an hour before his partners and the people in that room died and he had no idea how he was going to find the antidote. He was about to call Graham to ask for backup, when he saw Sarah rushing through the hallway. Relief washed over him when he realized she was safe. He almost broke out in a full-on sprint as he tried reaching her as fast as possible and, without really knowing what he was doing, he enveloped her on a hug.

Sarah was frozen in place as Chuck held her. "Sarah, thank God you're ok." He suddenly realized what he had done and awkwardly let her go, eliciting a tiny grin from her. He cleared his throat and said, "Sarah, we need to get the antidote, Casey is locked up in that room and the virus has been released!"

She placed a comforting hand on his upper arm and firmly told him, "Chuck, don't freak out. We have time and we're going to figure this out."

He took a deep breath and smiled a little. "Yeah, yeah, you're right, of course. But, Sarah, how are we supposed to find the antidote? Did you get the guy?"

"He's dead," she said, avoiding eye contact. She hated that part of her job and she knew exactly what Chuck though about shooting people. Somehow, that made her feel embarrassed, and she didn't like that feeling.

"Oh." Chuck was wrecking his brain to figure out a way to get the antidote. Suddenly, inspiration struck and he couldn't help himself as he almost shouted, "Jill!"

Sarah narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Why would he bring her up right now? "What?" she asked dryly.

He quirked an eyebrow at her tone, but said, "Sarah, Jill worked with LeFleur, if there's anyone who knows how to stop this virus, it's her! We need to find her and get her to help us."

"Chuck, we don't know where she is, and even if we did, why would she help us? She's running because she knows if we arrest her, she's going to prison. Besides, she probably helped develop that bio-weapon and she's FULCRUM! They are the ones that released the virus in the first place."

"Yeah, well, do you have a better idea?"

Sarah sighed resignedly. "How do we find her?"

He talked fast and animatedly. "Ok, so this is what we know: she was staying at this hotel, but she disappeared on the same night that LeFleur was killed. I heard her talk to Leader about him, so he's implicated in some way. Chances are, they are hiding together. But they don't know we're after them, so they aren't actually hiding, and that is going to make it easier for us to find them." He smiled brightly.

_He should write a nove_l, Sarah thought. What he was saying was ridiculous. The truth was, Jill would probably be in Brazil by now. But Chuck had a point. First of all, she didn't know Chuck was CIA, and she was the only FULCRUM Agent they knew, who had the proper background to know exactly what to do with a bio-weapon… her expression changed from _skeptical with a touch of cynic_ to realization. Maybe his story wasn't _that_ farfetched.

"Ok, we need to look into the security tapes from Leader's hotel and this one too," she said, as she started to walk away from him.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

She stopped to face him. "To Leader's hotel," she stated as it was obvious.

"Why can't I go there?"

She smirked. "Because it's all the way across town and you drive like an old lady."

He chuckled. This probably wasn't the right time to tell her she drove like a maniac. "Sarah," he called. She turned to face him again. "Just… just be careful, ok?"

She smiled one last time and ran towards the parking lot.

Chuck went to the hotel reception and flashed the receptionist his badge. "I'm Special Agent Charles Carmichael with the CIA and this is a national security emergency. I need to watch the security tapes from last Wednesday."

The receptionist seemed shocked, but he immediately called someone on the phone and they escorted Chuck to a room filled with monitors and two security guards. One of them was a large blond guy and the other one was bald and lanky. The tiny room smelled like cigarettes and sweat. He winced as he approached one of the monitors.

"Can you play the footage of the seventh floor from Wednesday, please?"

After a few minutes, Chuck was looking at the hallway of Jill's floor. He saw the large man in a bellhop uniform standing near the door of the room Jill had been staying on. _Must be Beckman's guy_, he thought. _So discrete_.

"Can you go forward, please?" The bald guy did as he asked, but he didn't see anything suspicious. Beckman's guy was still standing there.

"Oh, I remember now!" the security guard said. "That man stood there for an hour, and I thought that was strange, so I went to talk to him. I hadn't seen him before, and when I asked what he was doing he said he was just bringing room service. I knew he wasn't, so I asked him to follow me and check with the receptionist." Chuck watched the monitor. He could see the man was telling the truth. Once they had both left, Jill's door opened and she got out in a hurry. _And that's how they missed her_, Chuck thought. The man was still talking, so he shifted his attention to him again. "He ran. I don't know what he was doing, but I never saw him again. Is he a bad guy?"

Chuck shook his head. "No, he's one of us. The woman who was staying in that room is the one we're after," he replied.

"Oh," the guard seemed ashamed.

Chuck looked at him. "Don't worry, you couldn't know," and with that, he left the room. "Casey, how's the situation in there?" he asked into his watch.

"We're fine for now… some people are deteriorating faster than other. Did you find the antidote yet?" Casey's voice was raspy and he was coughing.

"No, but we will. Hang in there, buddy." Chuck grabbed his phone and called Sarah. "Hey, Sarah," he said as she picked up. "I couldn't find anything here, except that when Jill left, she was alone and nobody was following her. Did you find anything?"

"No, there's nothing here either. But Leader checked out the same day Jill did."

"Ok, what do we do now?" They needed to think, and more importantly, act fast if they wanted to save all the people locked in the conference room.

"What about looking into Jill's bank accounts? Maybe we can find something there," she suggested.

"Ok, I can do that," Chuck said, pulling out the laptop he had brought with him. "I'm connected to the CIA's mainframe, this shouldn't take long." He started typing and he heard a horn on the other end of the line. "Hey, Sarah, you're not driving, are you?"

"Would you please focus on what you're doing?" came her harsh response.

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Ok, ok, I'm in. No cash withdrawals in the past week. This is a dead end."

He heard another loud horn and Sarah cursing under her breath but he knew it would be best not to say anything about that. Suddenly, inspiration struck him. "Wait, wait a second, maybe if we check Jill's parents account we can find something."

"It's a long shot, Chuck. You think her parents are involved?" Sarah's tone was skeptical.

"No, but they were close. It's better than nothing," he answered absentmindedly. "Here… nothing in the past few weeks… but look! They transferred one thousand dollars to an unknown bank account two days ago!"

"Ok, can you trace it? Do we know who's account is it?"

"No, but give me a minute…" Sarah could hear Chuck typing. "Look, that same day someone paid a room at the Harrington. This must be it! Sarah, we need to go check out the guest list and the security tapes there!"

"Ok, I'm almost at the door, hurry up!"

Chuck ran towards the door just as Sarah hit the brakes.

_That can't be safe_, he thought, but he got in the car anyway. They made it to the hotel in record time and, without wasting any time, they flashed their badges and demanded to see the list of people who had checked in the past couple of days. The receptionist looked terrified as Chuck made it over the counter and started scanning the screen. Sarah waited expectantly.

"You've got to be kidding me," he suddenly said, sounding angry and narrowing his eyes.

"What? What is it?" asked Sarah.

Chuck turned the monitor for her to see. "They checked in two days ago. She said her name is 'Jillian Larkin'. Can you believe that?"

Sarah's eyebrows shot up, but she said nothing. _Why is he so upset?_ "Ok, what room is she in?"

"Let me see… 405."

"Ok, we got her. Let's go," she said, grabbing her gun.

Chuck nodded and they ran to the elevator. They reached Jill's room and, before Sarah could kick the door open, he stopped her and knocked instead.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

"We don't want to alert her, Sarah, we don't want her to run away again."

She gave him a dirty look, but lowered her gun. "Fine."

They heard steps approaching the door, and then it opened.

Jill looked at them wide-eyed. "Chuck? What are you doing here?"

"Jill, we need you to come with us, now."

When she heard him say "we" she shifted her attention to Sarah, noticing her for the first time. She also noticed she was holding a gun and sporting a murderous look.

"What is this about, Chuck?" she asked again, taking a step back.

Sarah started to say something, but Chuck interrupted her, "You know exactly what this is about, Jill. FULCRUM has released a virus and people are going to die unless you give us the antidote. You can make this easier for everyone and willingly help us or Sarah here can make you. Either way, you're coming with us."

To emphasize what Chuck had just said, Sarah cocked her gun and gave her a menacing look.

Jill dropped her head in defeat as she mumbled, "Ok, let me get what I need."

Chuck followed her closely as she gathered her stuff. "Ok, I'm ready," she said.

"Great, let's go."

They arrived at the hotel fifteen minutes later. The entrance had been fenced and there were a lot of FBI Agents.

Chuck rushed to the man who seemed to be in charge and showed him his badge. "Special Agent Charles Carmichael, CIA. We're taking over the situation." The man was going to protest, but Chuck added, "We have the antidote and we're running out of time, please, back off." With that, they settled in the lobby and Jill opened her briefcase, which contained too many big, scary needles for Chuck's taste.

"We're running out of time here, Jill, how long is this going to take?" Chuck asked.

"Well, first of all, I need a level A Hazmat suit to get in there."

"What? How the hell are we supposed to get one of those now?" Sarah almost screamed.

"Well, unless you're willing to go in there without it, you're going to have to manage to _somehow_ get it," Jill said, venom in her voice.

"You little…" Chuck grabbed Sarah's arm before she could hurt Jill in any way. They needed her right now, no matter how much she deserved it.

"Ok, I'll go," he said trying to sound calm.

"What? You're not going anywhere, Chuck," Sara said.

"Sarah, our partner's in there, and a lot of innocent people are going to die if we don't do anything. I'm going in. Jill, tell me what to do," he demanded firmly.

Jill looked at him with a mix of surprise and admiration. "I'm going to have to inject you first." She then proceeded to pull out of her briefcase, one of the largest syringes Chuck had seen in his life.

"No tricks, Jill," Sarah warned her. Chuck closed his eyes as Jill injected something in his arm. He felt Sarah's hand squeeze his own comfortingly.

"No tricks. That was a modified version of the virus strain. Now his body will metabolize the poison and the antiviral serum will be created from his blood," Jill explained.

"Poison? Poison? Sarah, she just poisoned me!" Chuck exclaimed, panicking.

"Chuck, it's ok, that's the only way to make the antidote," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Jill rolled her eyes. "To be fair, he did fail bio-chem, so I wasn't expecting him to understand that," she stated.

"Hey! Just tell him what he has to do once he gets inside," was Sarah's cold response.

"Ok, give me your arm," she said, looking at her watch.

"Again? What are you going to give me now, Ebola?" he said, sounding terrified. Sarah smiled warmly and held his hand again.

"Relax, I'm not going to inject anything. I need to extract your blood. As I said before, your body metabolized the antidote, so now…" she explained as she took the blood and put it in the centrifuge, "I just do this and… here's the antidote," she said, grabbing two syringes and filling them with it. "You're going to have to inject 1cc of the serum into each of the infected."

"Is this going to work?" he asked.

"It is, Chuck," she nodded.

"Ok, well, wish me luck," he said as he grabbed the syringes.

Sarah gave him a reassuring nod and whispered, "Go be a hero."

He flashed her his trademark grin and walked towards the door. As he stepped into the room, he saw people lying on the floor and on the tables. Some of them had already fainted. Chuck spotted Casey immediately.

"Carmichael, what are you doing here?" the Major asked between coughs.

"Don't worry, Casey, I have the antidote," he showed him the syringes. "Here, give me your arm." Casey did as he was told and Chuck injected him the serum.

"That's it?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, you should be fine now. Can you help me with this?"

"Yeah, what's the dose?"

"1 cc each."

The two of them managed to give everyone the antidote in less than ten minutes. Chuck called Sarah and told her it was safe to send the paramedics in. As he and Casey were making their way out of the room, they were welcomed by a rapturous applause. He grinned and looked for Sarah's face in the crowd. When he found her, he was pleased to see her smiling proudly at him.

After making sure everyone was safe and shaking a few hands as well, Chuck went over where Jill has handcuffed next to a couple of CIA Agents.

"So… I wanted to thank you for helping us today," he said.

"I really had no choice," she pointed out.

"Well, that's true, but still." He sighed. This would probably be the last time he saw her, his last chance to know why she had made all of those wrong decisions. "Why did you do it, Jill?" he asked.

Jill looked down. "I was recruited when we were at Stanford. I was told I was serving my country. When I found out what FULCRUM was, I was in too deep and they threatened to hurt my family." Surprisingly, she sounded sincere. She looked him in the eyes. "There's no way out, you know? FULCRUM, the CIA, they are all the same. They won't let you go, no matter what you do."

He shook his head. "Well, luckily for me, I'm working for the good guys here," he said.

"Are you really, Chuck?" she defiantly asked.

"Yes, I am, Jill. Because our guys don't go around killing innocent people just to make a statement. We are the ones who protect them."

She smirked and shook her head. "I guess you're going to interrogate me about Stanford now," she said.

Chuck had to admit he had planned to do it. He was convinced that would be the only way for him to get closure, but he suddenly realized he didn't care. He didn't care why she had left him, or why she had lied about sleeping with Bryce. He was finally over her, and he felt incredibly light after that realization.

"No, Jill, I'm not. I'm over you; I've been over you for a long time. I just hadn't realized that until now." He casted a final glance at her. "Good luck with your life," he murmured, and with that, he turned and walked away from her.

Sarah watched as Chuck talked to Jill. Once he walked away, she approached her.

"Agent Walker, what can I do for you now?" she mockingly asked.

"Nothing. You have no use for us anymore." Sarah's eyes turned dangerously dark as she leaned in and whispered, "With any luck, you're going to spend the rest of your life in jail. But if you ever get out and I find out you come anywhere near Chuck, I'll personally rip your head off, do you understand?"

Jill rolled her eyes and started to say something, but Sarah took a menacing step towards her and she just nodded, scared.

"Good. I'm glad to know we understand each other." She started to walk away, but she suddenly turned around and told her, "You know, you clearly have made a lot of stupid decisions in your life, but letting him go was by far the dumbest thing you ever did."

Jill swallowed, thinking about Sarah's words. The truth was, she herself was starting to rethink a lot of choices she had made along the years. But now she was going to prison, and there was nothing she could do. A tear made her way down her cheek. "I… just tell him I'm sorry," she whispered before she was forced into the backseat of the car by the two Agents.

Sarah was shocked at her last request, but she just shook her head and made her way to where Casey and Chuck were talking animatedly.

"You surprised me, I thought you were afraid to needles," Casey was saying.

Sarah smiled brightly as she said, "He almost fainted when Jill injected him with the virus, but he got over it."

Chuck grinned. "I wasn't going to faint, thank you very much for that vote of confidence. I just got a little dizzy, is all."

Casey grunted. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go home."

"Oh, definitely," Chuck agreed, and the three of them got into Sarah's Porsche. Since Sarah would never, ever let anyone else drive her car and Casey was the tallest-plus he had threatened Chuck with severe bodily harm-Chuck was relegated to the cramped back seat. Sarah had thrown him a sympathetic glance, but that was about all, as he curled up and hoped that the strain he felt in the different muscles that he didn't even know he had, wouldn't leave a lasting impression.

Once they were at the CIA building, Beckman and Graham congratulated them for their work. After they were dismissed, Sarah went back to her apartment and Casey and Chuck walked to their building.

"You did good today, Carmichael," Casey said, breaking the silence.

Chuck grinned. "Thanks, Casey. Although, in all fairness, Jill did most of the hard work."

Casey clenched his jaw. He hated this kind of talk, the ones where people discussed their _lady feelings_, but Chuck had saved him after all. He cleared his throat. "Are you… are you ok?"

Chuck gave him a shocked look. "Am I…? You mean, because of Jill…?" Casey nodded. "Well, yeah. I mean, it wasn't easy at first, but then I came to the realization that I was over her. I don't know when it happened, but I don't want anything to do with her anymore. She betrayed me; she betrayed her country. She deserves to go to jail."

"She does." Trying to change the subject, he asked, "Is your sister still here?"

"Yeah, she and Devon are leaving tomorrow morning." They made it to the entrance of their building and into the elevator. Before Chuck could set a foot outside it, though, he heard Casey calling his name.

"Chuck," he turned to look at him. It was the first time the Major called him that. "Thanks for saving my life today."

Chuck nodded and headed to his apartment. He noticed someone was waiting at the door.

"Bryce?"

"Hey, Chuck," he said cheerfully. He gave Casey a look. "Major."

Casey just grunted and got into his apartment.

"Bryce, what are you doing here?" Chuck asked.

"I wanted to talk to you before I went away for my new assignment."

Chuck's eyebrows shot up. "You're leaving? Already?"

"Yeah, I've been cleared for field duty. And I'm going deep undercover. That's why I wanted to see you before I left; I won't be able to communicate while I'm under the radar."

"But… you're not going alone, are you?" Chuck worriedly inquired.

"Well, Graham told me I could ask my old partner to join me, but I think it's safer if I go alone. I wouldn't want to end up accidentally dead by friendly fire," he joked.

Chuck laughed. "Yeah, that's probably a wise decision. So, you don't know when you're coming back?"

"No. By now, everybody in FULCRUM must know I wasn't rogue, so the Agency is going to fake my death. I came here to invite you to my funeral."

"That's morbid, man," Chuck said with disgust.

"I know, but we have to make them believe I'm dead."

"So wait… how many people know about this?" Chuck asked.

"Just the bosses and you," Bryce said, getting serious.

"How about Sarah, aren't you going to tell her?"

"The less people know I'm still alive, the better. But I know she can keep a secret. It's up to you to decide if you tell her or not. You obviously know her better than I do."

Chuck nodded. "When are you leaving? Am I going to see you again?"

"I'm leaving tonight. And don't worry, you can go on hating me after we defeat FUCLRUM," he winked and started to walk away. "Take care, Chuck, and take care of Sarah too. Oh, and tell her to look into the box."

Before he got into the elevator, Chuck called him and walk over where he was. "Bryce!"

"What's up?"

"I… I just wanted you to know that I don't hate you. I'm still mad at you, but I'm working on it."

Bryce smiled. "Thanks, buddy."

Chuck extended his hand and Bryce shook it. "Good luck, Agent Larkin."

"Good luck, Agent Carmichael." 

* * *

><p>Chuck was about to enter his apartment when he thought about what Bryce had told him. He knew Sarah was going to be affected when she learned about his death, whether she would admit it or not, and he didn't want her to get hurt. He decided he didn't want her to get mad at him when she found out he had known about Bryce's secret assignment since the beginning either, so he rushed to the street and took a cab.<p>

Fifteen minutes later, he was knocking on Sarah's door.

"Chuck," she said, surprised, when she opened the door.

"Hi, Sarah, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said with a charming smile.

"Of course you're not, come on in," she invited him and closed the door behind him when he stepped into the living room. "So, what brings you here?"

Chuck swallowed hard when he finally realized she was wearing just a very short, very tight robe. Her hair was still wet from the shower and she wasn't wearing any make up. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"I, uh… I just talked to Bryce," he blurted out.

Sarah's demeanor instantly changed from friendly to cold when he mentioned his name. "So?" she asked.

"He, uh… he told me some things I think you should know." It was going to be impossible for him to concentrate if she was going to keep wearing _that_. "Maybe… maybe you should change, you know, so we can talk…" he stammered.

She watched him babble, wondering what his problem was, but nodded anyway. "Ok, I'll be right back."

She left him seating on the couch as she made her way to her bedroom. Even if he was there to talk about Bryce –a talk she wasn't looking forward to, whatever it was about- she was glad to see him. She hadn't really talked to him after he'd saved the day a few hours ago. She was so proud of him. For a guy with no training, he made an amazing Agent. He was brave, he was determined and, most importantly, he cared. He didn't do his job for the glory or the commendations; he did it because he believed he could actually help people. And he did. That same day he had saved about fifty people's lives, including their partner's. She smiled when she thought about the boy who had been her friend eight years ago. He had changed, but he was still kind and generous and sweet. And, on top of all those good qualities, he had a killer smile, the one he'd been sporting when she'd opened the door. And she had gotten that fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach as soon as she'd seen him standing there. By now, she was kind of used to it, but she marveled at the power he had over her. She vaguely thought it was a good thing he didn't know about it, because it would be close to impossible to her to ever say no to him. She quickly got dressed and went back to the living room.

"Hey," she said. He was reading a magazine.

"Hey. So… which one do you think is better, the AK-47 or the M16?" he jokingly asked.

"Well, it really depends on what you're looking for. The AK-47 is less accurate but reliable and easy to maintain. The M16 need intensive maintenance and it's less reliable, but it has a carrying handle, and the AK-47 doesn't…"

"Ok, ok, I get it, you know your guns, Agent Walker," he said, putting her copy of Guns & Ammo back in the coffee table. She didn't say anything as she seated on a chair next to him.

"So…" he started. "Bryce came to see me today. He wanted to tell me he's been cleared for field duty," he paused. "Sarah, he's going deep undercover. And for that to work… he has to fake his death."

Sarah looked at him and nodded. "He said only Graham, Beckman and I knew about this, but I wanted you to know too. I… I don't want you to get hurt again."

She had to smile. "Thank you, Chuck, I appreciate that you're telling me this. But Bryce and I are over."

"I know, I know you are. But… I don't know. I just thought you should know." He shrugged before adding, "Oh, he also asked me to tell you to look in the box."

Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "He did?"

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, I don't know what he meant, but that's what he said."

"Ok, let's see what this is about," she said, standing up. Chuck stood up too, but didn't follow her. She turned around, "You don't want to know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just…" he shook his head and followed her into her bedroom. It was just as clean and empty as the rest of her apartment, he noticed. She opened a door to reveal a huge closet.

"Wow, it's like another room in here, Sarah," Chuck said, stepping in.

"Well, a CIA Agent has to wear a lot of different outfits," she pointed out.

"Yeah, and I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you're a woman and it's written in your DNA that you love shopping," he joked.

"Hey, that's sexist!" she said, playfully hitting his shoulder.

"Maybe, but really, who needs so many shoes?" There were at least twenty pairs.

"Shut up, I'm trying to find something here, Bartowski," she replied, turning her back to him.

"Yeah, right…" Suddenly, something caught his attention. There was a shoe box in a shelf. It wasn't completely closed and he thought he saw something familiar, so he moved to retrieve what was inside it. The wrapping paper that was left was a little yellow on the edges. He smiled brightly as he took the book in his hands. The blue cover was a little old, but still intact. He'd loved that book when he was a kid. His dad had given it to him for his 12nd birthday, and he'd read it in a day. He could still remember how much Sarah –Jenny at the time- had liked it, which had made him decide to give it to her. He couldn't believe she had kept it for all those years. Ok, maybe he could believe she'd kept the book, but the wrapping paper too? Why would she keep it? Besides, it was in a shoe box in her closet, not in a bookshelf. A thought crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Surely, she had her reasons. Maybe she just didn't want to be called a nerd, so she hid it. But maybe… maybe this was one of those small pieces of proof that Ellie had told him about. Maybe she had kept it almost exactly as he gave it to her because she cared about him. _Really_ cared about him. Maybe he was more important to her than he thought. Maybe she even had… feelings for him too. He just stood there, a smile slowly forming in his face, when she turned around to face him, "I found it!" she said excitedly, but her smile disappeared and she blushed furiously when she saw what he was holding.

She looked down, not knowing what to say, as Chuck took a step closer to her. "You… you kept it," he almost whispered.

She forced herself to meet his eyes. They were filled with emotion and she felt overwhelmed. Suddenly, she was very aware of his proximity, and her heart was beating like crazy. "Of course I did," she shyly said.

"I… I'm glad you liked it," he said, smiling.

She smiled back. "It's my favorite book. I told you so the first time you made me read it."

"If I recall correctly, you were skeptical that a story including an alien named after a car because his name is impossible to say, his semi-cousin, a robot, and two humans could be interesting at all."

She chuckled. "Oh, but you proved me wrong, didn't you?" she said, now taking a step forward.

He could smell her shampoo now that she was standing so close to him. it was difficult for him to focus when her scent filled his senses and his whole body was practically screaming at him to just hold her and kiss her. "I… I believe I made my point, yes," he nervously replied.

Sarah was having trouble to breath now, and Chuck was still teasing her. _Why hasn't he kissed me already?_ It was taking her all her willpower not to jump him right there and right now. She looked him in the eye again and he finally saw it. She wanted it too. He saw the raw emotion in her eyes, and he felt a ridiculous need to dance, but he didn't care. He finally mustered up the courage to put a shaky hand on her cheek. He hadn't been that nervous since his first kiss. She blushed a little but she didn't back away. He was amazed by the fact that she seemed to want this as much as he wanted it. He started to lean down, and she closed her eyes as she waited for him to close the gap between them. He was about to kiss Sarah. He was about to kiss the woman of his dreams.

And then his cell phone rang. Ellie would have been horrified had she known the number of profanities that crossed his mind at that exact moment. And talking about Ellie, he almost groaned in frustration when he saw her face in the caller ID. He just shook his head, and, cursing his luck a little more, picked up.

"Hi, sis," he was trying to be nice, but he sounded like he had just smashed his fingers with the door.

"Hi, Chuck, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah," he couldn't look at Sarah. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to know where do you keep your extra sponges, because I've been cleaning today and the one you had is ruined."

Chuck thought he was going to cry. "You… you want to know… I… I don't have any, Ellie," he managed to say, resisting the urge to punch the wall.

"Chuck, I've always told you to keep an extra…"

He interrupted her before she could give him a lecture about extra sponges and their benefits. "Is there anything else, Ellie?"

He heard silence on the other end, until she softly spoke, "I interrupted something, didn't I?"

"Maybe. I… Can we talk when I get home, please?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, Chuck, I…"

"I have to go, Ellie, goodbye." He didn't want to be rude, but his sister had an awful timing. First, she had arrived to DC the same night he and Sarah had a date. Because, even though he'd tried to deny it, it had been a date. And now, she just ruined the most perfect moment he and Sarah had shared since reconnecting a month ago.

He turned to face Sarah, who was looking down at the box she still held in her hands. "Sarah… I'm, I'm sorry, it was Ellie, she… she wanted to know something about…" he paused, mortified. Did he just get cockblocked by his sister asking about sponges? Before he could help it, he burst out laughing.

Sarah was beyond frustrated. She had been about to kiss Chuck. She had seen his eyes closing, she had felt his warm breath tickling her lips. And then his damn phone had rang. To make things even worse, the idiot was now laughing at her. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to decide where to hit him first, when he started to recover and said, "I'm so, so sorry, Sarah. That… that was Ellie… she wanted to know… where I keep my… my extra sponges."

Her jaw dropped. That was single-handedly the stupidest thing she had ever heard. She tried to stay angry, at the universe, at Ellie, at Chuck's stupid sponges, but she couldn't. She started laughing and Chuck quickly joined her. After a few minutes, they were finally able to recover. She still wanted to kiss him, badly, but the moment was gone. _Soon_, she promised to herself. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "So… should we look into this?"

Chuck's eyes shifted from her to the small box she was holding. Smiling a little, albeit thoroughly disappointed, he nodded. They both got out of the closet and took a sit on Sarah's bed. She opened it and found several IDs and passports. "This is where we kept all of our aliases' IDs and documentation when we were partners," she explained. "I don't know what we're looking for, though."

"What's that?" Chuck asked, pointing at a closed envelope.

Sarah frowned. "Uh, I don't know, that wasn't here before." She opened it and started to read the letter. Chuck watched her intently. She finally put it down, still clenching it in her hands.

"So…?" Chuck asked.

Sarah swallowed. "That, uh… that's his spy will. Or as he called it, his 'fake spy will.'"

"Oh." Chuck didn't know what to say.

"Yeah. He… he wanted to say how sorry he was for doing everything he did. And he asked me… he asked me to protect his best friend… you."

Chuck smiled. "That sounds like him," he said. "He asked me to take care of you too, you know?"

Sarah shook her head. "That's not your job."

"Oh, I don't think of it as a job, at all. It's more like a hobby, a pleasure, even," he joked.

"Shut up," she said, standing up.

He stood up too, and headed to the door. "Well, I guess I'll be going now, I have things to do and apparently, sponges to buy."

She chuckled and said with a mischievous smile, "Yeah. Just make sure you have enough for the next time."

He swallowed hard, thinking about the implications of her words, but still managed to grin at her, "Oh, I will. Goodbye, Sarah."

"Goodbye, Chuck." She watched him as he got into the elevator and then closed the door and rested her back against it. She debated going over to his apartment and doing something vaguely harmful to his sister just for ruining the moment they just shared. It had been perfect; it would've been perfect, damn it. She padded back to her couch and dropped on it with a grunt. Her head lulled backwards and she closed her eyes, trying her hardest not to explode in a fiery ball of rage.

He had –sort of- promised a next time though, so there was that, but it could've been sooner. She stood up and sighed. She might as well go to bed. Nothing good happened after 2 AM anyway.

Just as she was about to cross into her bedroom, she heard a knock. _Who the hell is that?_ She opened the door and in front of her was Chuck, bouncing on the balls of his feet. As he looked up, his face sported his characteristic grin.

"Chuck?"

"Forgot something."

Her question died on her lips as he dove forward and pressed his lips to her in flurry of movement. She barely had time to respond –although she did manage to eagerly return it for a couple of seconds- before he pulled back. He was still smiling. "Goodnight, Sarah."

Sarah stared at him in near shock, before seemingly finding her footing again. She was, after all, a top CIA agent. He shouldn't have had this effect on her. But that was a moot point now. "Goodnight Chuck," she echoed, before he trod off and she let the door fall back in its lock, before walking into her bedroom and collapsing on the mattress.

Yep, today had been a good day. 

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** aaaaaand that's it for today. Just FYI, I don't know a thing about viruses and that kind of stuff, I just copied what was mentioned in Chuck vs. the Ex. I know, shame on me.  
>Now, I need to ask you a favor... could you pretty please leave a review and tell me what are your thoughts about this chapter? It would mean a lot.<br>Thanks for reading! Until next time.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**A/N:** Hello again! It's been a looooong time, I know…

Originally, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but I wanted to update this story, so here it is. I'm not really comfortable writing Chuck and Sarah–sort of– together, so you'll have to bear with me. A huge thank you goes to **Aerox**, who, as usual, made this much better than it was.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Chuck. Duh.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter Eleven<em>**

Chuck was lying in his bed, debating whether he should call Sarah or not. They hadn't seen each other since that impulsive–and yet amazing–kiss they had shared four days ago. Simply thinking about it made him grin like a fool. Devon and Ellie had gone back to Burbank and the CIA apparently had no use for the Intersect after the virus incident, so he had plenty of time to evaluate his next move. The only problem was, he wasn't sure about what he should do. If it would've been up to him, he would've asked Sarah out immediately, but he wanted to give her time to process things. After all, it wasn't like she had been extremely receptive until that night. So he had decided to back off a little and give her space. Even if that meant having to physically restrain himself from calling her or dropping by her apartment, which was exactly what he had been doing for the past few days. If he was honest with himself, he wanted nothing more to see her, talk to her, hear her laugh. He missed her terribly, and the most egotistical part of him hoped that she felt the same way about him.

He finally decided four days was long enough, and reached for his phone, which was lying on the bedside table. Before he could dial though, it rang. He sighed when he noticed it was Graham. Apparently, the bad guys' vacation was over.

"Carmichael," he said into the phone, trying to disguise his annoyance.

As always, his boss was all business. "Agent Carmichael, something urgent has come up. We'll be having a briefing in 30 minutes."

"Of course, sir. I'll be right there." When he heard the line go dead, he tossed his phone to the middle of the bed before running a hand through his hair in frustration. It seemed like every time something was about to happen that could potentially be something good for him, someone had to go and screw it all up. He sighed, got out of bed, and started to get ready for work.

After he had a quick breakfast, he put on his tie and his suit jacket and stepped into the hallway. Two seconds later, he watched as the door from Casey's apartment flew open and a sleepy-looking Major made his way to where he was standing.

"Morning, Casey," Chuck greeted in a cautious tone, knowing that if he didn't get his 'beauty sleep' as he jokingly called it, the Major got especially grumpy and… well, mean.

Casey surprised him by greeting him back. "Morning, Carmichael."

As they headed towards the elevator, Chuck commented, "Nice weather, huh?"

"Well, it is May," he heard Casey mumble. Seeing he clearly wasn't in the mood to talk–which, to be fair, shouldn't have surprised him at all–he kept quiet during the ride to the CIA headquarters.

All of a sudden, he realized that Sarah was probably going to be there too and his palms started to sweat and his mind went crazy. _How should I greet her? What should I say? What if she thinks I didn't call her because I regret kissing her? She could've called too, so why didn't she? Why didn't I call her sooner? And why didn't I think of all of this before? Oh, God, I'm an idiot!_ Noticing he was close to hyperventilating, he took a deep breath and tried to calm down. When his breathing finally evened out again, he noticed they were already there and Casey was urging him to get out of the car.

As they both made their way to the conference room, Chuck focused on calming down, telling himself that everything was going to be just fine. Surely Sarah wasn't mad at him and he had definitely not blown his chance with her. As soon as he entered the room she was going to smile at him and he was going to do what he should've done after kissing her. Overcome his stupid fears and ask her out on a proper date. Absolutely nothing could go wrong. Feeling a little better with his new resolution, he opened the door and got in. The first thing he noticed was the tension in the air. Frowning, his gaze shifted from Graham to Beckman, who were sporting similar somber expressions. Chuck quickly turned his sight to Sarah, who was seated stiffly in one of the swivel chairs placed around the table. He took a seat next to her, and she smiled weakly at him. He wondered if it was because of the horrible news they were obviously going to get or because how much of a jerk he had been in regard to their… _thing_... which wasn't quite a thing now that he thought about it. Well, it _could_ be a thing, but they would need to label it first and to do that he would have to talk to her and oh God, he didn't call her. He didn't have much time to adequately freak out though, because General Beckman broke the uncomfortable silence clearing her throat. The three spies turned their heads to her.

"I'm afraid we have bad news, team," she said. _No surprise there_, Chuck thought. "For the past two months, the CIA and the NSA have been working hard on building a new Intersect." Chuck's mouth dropped in shock. Why hadn't anyone told him about that? He knew the circumstances in which he had been forced to the upload were far from ideal, but he had thought he was doing a good job. He trained hard, he was effective in the field and he and his team always got the job done. He felt Casey tense next to him and lean forward like he was going to say something, but he kept quiet. Sarah, on the other hand, didn't.

"What do you mean 'a new Intersect,' General? I thought you were satisfied with our team's performance?"

"We are, Agent Walker. But the Intersect was never meant to end up in Agent Carmichael's head in the first place."

"Actually, that's not true, General. Professor Fleming thought Chuck would have made an excellent candidate back in college, but Bryce Larkin made sure that wouldn't happen…" Chuck gave Sarah an astonished look. She was talking fast and she sounded agitated for some reason. Why was she defending him like that? Why was she talking back to a superior and why, for the love of God, was she interrupting them in the middle of a briefing?

He tried to stop her before she got herself reprimanded. "Sarah, really, it's…"

"No, Chuck! It's not ok!" Her outburst made him frown. He was sure he was missing something important; something that had made a perfectly obedient and expert-in-hiding-her-emotions CIA Agent yell in the middle of a briefing. But then again, it would take a special brand of moron to miss that.

"Sarah, what are you talking about…?"

"Enough!" At Graham's firm tone, Sarah looked down, a little flushed, and Chuck stared at her, worried about what she was thinking. "As General Beckman was saying before she was rudely interrupted..." He looked at Sarah and Chuck could see her clench her teeth. "...we've been trying to build a new Intersect with the schematics Agent Carmichael provided us. But that is not the problem here."

"What is it, sir?" Chuck asked, genuinely intrigued.

"FULCRUM has the advantage once again. Yesterday afternoon, one of the agents we had carefully selected to rebuild the Intersect disappeared, taking the cipher with him. As you can see, FULCRUM's men are everywhere, and they are closer than we thought. Now they have the cipher and we don't know what they are trying to do with it, but it can't be good. It's definitely not good for us, because until we get it back, we can't run the upload in our agents."

"Do we know where to start looking for it?" Casey asked, talking for the first time since they had gotten into the room.

"We believe the mole is going to deliver it tonight. We've spotted this man..." He pressed a button on the remote he held in his hand and a familiar face appeared in the screen behind him, "...in a hotel near our facility. We think the only reason he stuck around instead of running away after we captured Roberts is because he was supposed to be a part of the drop."

"So our old friend Leader is back," Chuck mumbled.

Graham continued as if he hadn't heard him. "For now, we have agents following his every move and surveillance at the hotel. We will know soon enough if he has anything to do with this whole thing. Your mission is to retrieve the cipher once we find out where it is."

The three spies nodded and silence filled the room. Not for long, since Sarah seemed eager to know something. "And what will happen to Chuck when the new Intersect is up and running?"

So this was it. She was worried about what they were going to do with him after they got real, trained CIA agents to upload the Intersect. He hadn't even thought about it himself, but it had been the first thing to come to her mind, if her earlier outburst proved anything. He wanted to kiss her right there, but he knew it was impossible, so he just settled with smiling at her. A smile that she didn't return, he noticed. Oh crap, she was pissed about him not calling. But damn it, how could he know? He only ever had Jill, and she was just a short walk over the quad away. No phones necessary. Hell, if anything, he was the rookie in this weird thing they had going on.

"What do you mean, Agent Walker?"

"Well, the General just said that the Intersect was never meant to end in Chuck's head. What are you going to do with him when you finally put it where it was always supposed to be? What happens with Chuck then?" Her tone was defiant and tinged with something else. It sounded like she was worried. But that was insanity. The Sarah he had come to know, and the stories that he had heard about her never spoke about her having a single fiber in her body that was capable of something as inane as worry.

Graham looked Sarah in the eyes for a few seconds and then shifted his gaze away. "Well, the normal procedure would be to get rid of the old Intersect if it proved to be a threat to National Security." Chuck gulped and he felt Sarah tense next to him. Anger seemed to be radiating from her body, and it felt like he was sitting next to a furnace. "But since Chuck has demonstrated he can be an asset for the Agency, and a very good agent in the field, it's up to him whether he wants to remove it or keep it and stay here working with us and with this team."

Chuck let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and gave Sarah a comforting look. He already knew what his answer would be when the time came. There was no way he would chose to come back to the life he had been living before. A life in which all the excitement he could get came from kicking Morgan's ass in Duck Hunt. A life were he was just a worthless loser. A life without Sarah. He calmly said, "I understand, sir, although you can imagine what my answer is going to be."

Beckman nodded. "It's settled, then. I want you to be ready to move as soon as we contact you with information about the cipher. But for now, you're dismissed."

Everybody hurried to left the room, but Chuck stood there and waited for Sarah near the door. Hopefully he could take her mind off of the fact that he didn't call. So when she looked up, he smiled at her. "Thank you." She seemed confused, so he felt the need to clarify, "For fighting for me in there," he said as they both got out of the room and walked through the long hallway that leaded to the front entrance of the building.

She smiled. "You don't have to thank me, you know you would've done the same for me."

He knew it was true. "Still. You didn't have to do that and I appreciate it." He squinted a little when they got outside and the morning sunlight hit him. He recognized Casey's silhouette sitting in a bench, looking as impatient as he always did. He smiled and nodded towards him. Sarah followed closely as he made his way to the bench. "Hey Casey. Enjoying the beautiful morning?"

The Major gave him one of his menacing looks and said, "No, Carmichael, I'm waiting for you. You don't have a car, remember?"

_Well, that is new,_ Chuck thought, grinning a little. Even though he appreciated the gesture, he couldn't help but tease him. "That is so sweet of you, John." He heard Sarah's muffled chuckle and his smile broadened. Casey just glared at him and mumbled something unintelligible. The truth was, while he would rather be swallowed whole by the ground for his faux-pas, he needed to talk to Sarah before he left and with Casey in the middle, that conversation would turn out to be a little more awkward than he had originally planned. So he thought of a good lie to tell him without sounding like he was trying to get rid of him. "But I have… to go shopping, so I'll walk." He failed. Badly.

"You're going shopping, Carmichael?" Casey asked with a hint of a smirk, obviously aware of his plan.

Chuck shifted his body weight to his right leg as he scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable. "Yes. I mean, well, I have to go… to the grocery store! That's it. I need to buy… stuff, so I was planning to do that on my way home and I don't want you to be late… to your apartment."

Casey narrowed his eyes, but, surprisingly, let him off the hook. "Ok." He stood up and started to walk away. When he had made a few steps, though, he turned around, now visibly smirking, and said, "Have fun shopping, Carmichael."

Chuck swallowed, mentally kicking himself for his inability to think on his feet and the lame excuse he had given. He was sure Sarah thought he was an idiot. But when he turned to look at her, she was smiling broadly. His breath caught in his throat, and he couldn't let out any words.

Sarah seemed to notice it, because she broke the silence. "So…"

"So…" Chuck croaked. "Look, I don't… I don't really have to go shopping, I was just trying to get rid of Casey so we'd be able to… talk," he finished awkwardly.

She bit her lower lip, trying to hide her smile. "Oh." She pretended to get serious. "And what did you want to talk about, Chuck?"

"I… I, uh… I wanted to apologize for not calling you after… you know," he blurted out. His palms were getting sweaty but he took a deep breath and said what he needed to say. "I just don't want to pressure you or anything but I don't want you to think I'm a jerk either, because I really like you and I've been meaning to call you, but I didn't know how you were going to react, and really I'm kinda new at this so if you think about it, I…"

Suddenly, Sarah's lips were on his and he couldn't think about anything but how ridiculously good it felt. He felt her wrap her arms around his neck and he snaked his own around her back, pulling her closer. He just wanted to stay there forever, enjoying the feel of her body pressed to his, kissing her like there was no tomorrow, in… a public place. Whoops. He felt his cheeks tinge scarlet, and slowly started to pull away, breathing heavily, but keeping her in his embrace. Her eyes were still closed and she was smiling. "I was afraid you were having second thoughts," she said, after a few seconds, as she opened her eyes and hard blue met soft brown.

He chuckled happily. "Seconds thoughts? About you? I'd have to be crazy."

She looked at him warily, and he could see disbelief, vulnerability and hope in her eyes. He shook his head with a small grin and softly kissed her again, trying to show her that she could trust him, that she didn't have to be insecure about what was going on between them. "Hey, you wanna get out of here? Maybe go grab some coffee or something?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, her heart skipping a beat when he held her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. He guided them to a little coffee shop two blocks away, but all she could think about as they walked hand in hand was how normal she felt. Right now, she was just a girl going to have a coffee with a guy. A sweet, nerdy, wonderful guy. The truth was, she had been freaking out for the past four days. She wanted to talk to him, badly, but she didn't want him to feel like he owed her anything. After all, it had been _just_ one kiss. Granted, it had been amazing—although too short in her opinion—but maybe he hadn't felt anything. Which would've been really unfortunate, because it had kept her awake for most of that night. She had stopped herself from calling him a number of times. She had even tried to convince herself it hadn't been that great, and that she didn't care if he didn't do anything. But as good of a conman as she was, she couldn't con herself, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't remember being so attracted to anyone else before and every time she thought about him, she felt that weird thing in her stomach again. It was amazing. And downright terrifying.

As Chuck opened the door for her and led them to a secluded table in the corner of the shop, she reveled on the fact that for some crazy reason he had chosen her. He knew her, knew where she came from, and still wanted to be with her. As far as she was concerned, that was nothing short of a miracle.

A waitress came and took their orders, interrupting Chuck, who was telling her how he had stumbled into the place the second day he had been in DC. After the waitress left, she turned around only to find Chuck staring at her with a bright smile on his face. She returned the gesture almost involuntarily. He had such a gorgeous smile, it was contagious, and she was glad that was the case. She had never smiled as much in her life as she did when she was with him. And it was there, sitting in a small coffee shop in DC, reunited with her old friend slash new boyfriend, that Sarah Walker could say for the first time in her life, that she was happy.

* * *

><p>Chuck was ecstatic. His casual second breakfast with Sarah had been even better than he thought it was going to be. She had appeared to be so happy that he had actually started wondering if she wasn't feigning her enthusiasm for his sake, but all his doubts where soon discarded when she leaned over the table and kissed him right on the lips, after he said something stupid about how her reputation was going to be ruined when Casey found out what they were doing.<p>

They had both agreed to take things slow, and he was still kind of stunned by the fact that she actually wanted to be with him. Guys like him weren't supposed to get girls like Sarah. But she kept defying the natural order of the universe every time she held his hand or smiled adorably at him. She _had_ to be crazy. And, to be honest, he was sort of hoping she remained in the state of insanity that had led her to him in the first place.

He had just opened his apartment's door, feeling pretty good about himself—actually, he felt pretty good about everything, everywhere right about now—when someone grabbed him and pulled him inside. He was caught by surprise and he couldn't flash fast enough. He wasn't even able to see the stranger's face. His legs buckled and everything rescinded into darkness.

* * *

><p>Chuck woke up with a horrible headache. As he tried to focus his blurry vision, he realized he was still in his apartment, but he was now strapped to one of the chairs in the dining room. Everything was dark except for a small lamp that belonged in the living room, but had been settled a few feet away from him. The bright light drove a nice big spike into his cranium, so he instinctively closed his eyes, desperately trying to figure out a way to get out of there.<p>

He heard some rustling near him, but didn't dare to look at his captor. Instead, he kept his eyes firmly shut and waited. They were probably going to torture him, he was sure of that. After all, it had been drilled into him from day one that this was what happened to CIA personnel that got captured. He could accept that, although reluctantly, because he had known from the start it was one of the risks that came with the job, but he couldn't believe how easily they had found him. And if they had found out about him, they most likely knew about Casey and Sarah too. He gritted his teeth and his breathing grew shallow when he imagined what these rogue agents were capable of doing to his partners. Or maybe they had already gotten to them. He clenched his fists, trying to calm the boiling rage he was feeling. If he ever found out that they had touched even one hair on Sarah's head, he'd make sure they would pay. Each and every one of them. Although, given his current position, the odds on him coming out alive weren't quite in his favor.

"There's no need to get so angry, Agent Carmichael," said a voice that came from the other end of the table.

Chuck slowly opened his eyes, fighting back the pain. "I wouldn't be so angry if you hadn't broken into my apartment, tranqued me and then strapped me to my own chair," he sniped back.

"I know it was all a bit… excessive, but you _are_ a CIA agent and I didn't want to take any risks. I needed to make sure you'd listen to me before you tried to knock me out with some complicated Kung Fu move that fancy Intersect of yours teaches you."

_Oh, crap_. So this guy knew about the Intersect. How had FULCRUM managed to get that Intel? Graham had told him the Intersect project was top secret, and even if the CIA was planning to upload it in other agents, no one was supposed to know he already had it in his brain, except for his bosses, his partners and the few people who had intervened in the follow up of those weeks after the accidental upload. But he couldn't for the life of him imagine Dr. Jones selling that information to a rogue organization. Either they had found out by their own means or he was a horrible judge of character. And he prided himself on being a really good one. He lightly shook his head to get his thoughts in order. Right now, top priority was finding a way to get out of his restraints and do whatever he could to apprehend the guy who had tied him up so securely that he couldn't even twist his wrists.

"I imagine this is going to be a shocker to you, but I'm actually here to help you," said the voice, and this time, it sounded like it was coming from a place closer to his chair.

Chuck tried to find a shadow, something that might give him a clue as to who this guy was, but he couldn't see anything. His head was still throbbing and he was starting to get really annoyed by this man and his cryptic ways. "Oh, yeah? Is this your way of helping me? I don't even want to think what you'd do if you were to torture me," he answered sarcastically.

"I am not here to hurt you, Charles." He spotted a figure standing behind the lamp, but the light was too bright and he couldn't see his face.

Chuck swallowed. "I'm having a tough time believing that FULCRUM sent you to _help me_ and not to hurt me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm sure you can understand how these straps can be confusing."

To his surprise, he heard an amused chuckle. "I'm not with FULCRUM, Charles. And I am going to help you, if you let me. But first, if you want me to untie you, you have to promise you're going to listen to me."

Chuck thought about it. The way he saw it, there were two options: this guy was crazy and had no idea what he was doing, or he was just too good and didn't need him tied up to a chair to kill him. Considering his current position didn't exactly give him the chance to defend himself, he decided it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to be able to move his limbs if the stranger was lying, which was very likely. If he was going to die, he was going to make sure to put up a fight. "Ok. I promise," he heard himself saying.

"No tricks, Charles. You gave me your word."

The man took a step towards him and Chuck gazed in his direction. The damn light was still in the way so all he could see was just a tall figure standing a few feet away from him. He closed his eyes again, cursing the tranq dart._ What do they put in those things?_ "I won't try anything," he said out loud. He heard the stranger take a few more steps towards him until he knew he was finally standing right in front of him.

"Good," said the voice again, and this time, Chuck thought it sounded vaguely familiar. Letting out a breath, that could've very well been one of his last ones, he slowly opened his eyes.

Recognition immediately smacked Chuck in the face. He knew who this man was. How could he forget? The rage that he had felt when he thought of Sarah being harmed returned with a vengeance, and instead of shirking away, he looked his captor straight in the eye.

"Long time no see, dad."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I would really love to know what you guys thought about this chapter. I'm already writing the next one, so it shouldn't take me too long to post it.

P.S. this site hates me, so it'll probably change everything after I click "Add chapter." I'm sorry about that.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**A/N:** Well, hello again! I was planning on updating this yesterday, but it was my birthday and I was kind of busy all day. I'm sorry for the delay, once again. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.

Thanks to **Aerox** who beta'ed this and made cool comments that made me laugh. He still can't believe how us women can take so long to get ready. :P

Last time I checked, I still didn't own Chuck. 

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twelve<strong>_

Stephen Bartowski kept quiet as he leaned down to untie his son. The son whom he hadn't seen in almost ten years. He wasn't really surprised by the coldness in Chuck's tone when he finally realized who he was, but it still hurt. There was so much that he wanted to tell him, but he didn't know where to start. And he didn't have that much time either. When one was hiding from the government, you couldn't really stay in any place for a long period of time. He just wished Chuck could understand that one day, and maybe even forgive him, although he wasn't feeling too optimistic right now.

Once he was done, he took a step back and sat down in the nearest chair. He watched intently as Chuck rubbed his wrists. His frown and pursed lips gave away the anger he was feeling at the moment. Again, it hurt him–mostly because he knew he kind of deserved it.

Chuck's growl brought him out of his musings. "Can you at least turn off that damn lamp? Just open a window or something…"

Silently, he did as his son asked. Apparently, tranq darts still had that horrible hangover effect.

"Do you want an aspirin?" he asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

Chuck narrowed his eyes. "No, thanks. I'd love it if you gave me some answers, though."

"Look, Charles, I know this is probably not the reunion you had imagined but…"

Chuck snapped. "'Not the reunion I had imagined?' You gotta be kidding me right now! I come back to my apartment only to be tranqued by my dad–the same guy who abandoned me and my sister ten years ago–and then I wake up and he's tied me to a damn chair. My head is throbbing, I can't feel my wrists and for all that I know, you're working for the enemy. So you're totally right, _dad_, this is not what I had imagined. This is not what I had imagined _at all_."

Stephen sighed. This was going to be so much harder than he had originally thought. "Charles, I understand that you're mad, and you have every right to be. But, as I told you before, I'm not working for the enemy and I came here to help you. Please, give me a chance to explain."

"Explain how you and mom worked for the government and never told Ellie and me a thing, why you both abandoned us or why you broke into my apartment and assaulted me?"

"I… I don't have much time, but I guess I can try to explain everything." He waited for Chuck to say anything, but when he only glared at him, he continued. "As you already know, your mom and I worked for the CIA. That's actually how we met. I was a scientist, and came up with the stupid idea of the Intersect in the first place. Some of my colleagues warned me that it was a dangerous project, but I didn't listen. I introduced the schematics to the CIA Director and he was thrilled at the idea that we could directly upload information in somebody's brain and made me the head of the project. The project that ultimately consumed all my time and cost me everything I loved." His gaze dropped to the floor, and Chuck realized he really meant it. Before he could say anything though, Stephen started speaking again. "I know that you know that your mother was a field agent. One of the best, actually." His eyes lit up with pride when he talked about his wife. "We rarely got the chance to work together, and I stayed at home after Ellie was born anyway. We decided it was for the best, that if anything happened to her, at least I would be there for you."

"Well, we all know how that worked out," Chuck bitterly muttered. As soon as the words left his mouth and he saw the guilty expression on his dad's face, he regretted it. Not enough to take the words back, but Chuck did feel guilty about it.

"Yes, we do. As I was saying, I kept working on the Intersect at home and your mom kept going on missions every once in a while. It wasn't ideal but we managed, and you and Ellie were happy. But then, I had a breakthrough and decided that I was ready to try the Intersect upload in a human subject. And you may not remember this, but you played a huge part in that decision."

Chuck looked puzzled. "Me?"

Stephen smiled sadly. "Yes. You were nine and your mom was on a mission. Ellie was at a friend's house and you were hungry. You came down to the basement and I wasn't there, but my computers were." He smiled again, and this time it was genuine. "You were always such a curious, intelligent kid. And you always loved computers like your old man. You ran the program. And you survived."

Chuck's eyes widened, just as a memory started to shape in his mind. "I uploaded the Intersect when I was a kid?"

"Yeah. I was worried sick and then I saw you were ok and I couldn't believe it. When I told your mom, though, she wasn't so happy. She didn't speak to me for like two days." He snickered at the memory. "She was a great spy, but an even better mother," he sounded choked up for some reason.

Chuck smiled and then realized something. "Wait. _Was_? What happened to her?"

"I told the Director I was ready to upload the Intersect and we selected a candidate. We ran the program and… things didn't work out as we expected. This man was a CIA agent, a true patriot, and he experienced a complete change of character. He became… evil. He went off the grid and your mother and her partner were assigned to his search. The Intersect Project was officially shut down, but the Director asked me to keep working on it off the record. For a few years, your mother sent me updates on her mission, but then, she suddenly stopped. That was when I knew she had been taken. And it was only a matter of time for them to come after me, and the only way to keep you and your sister safe was to leave, so they wouldn't connect me to you."

Chuck ran a hand over his face. This was just too much information to take in. His first guess hadn't been so far off. His father did leave them to protect them. Even if it still hurt and he was still angry at him, he could understand that. "So… did you ever get to see her again? Is she…?" he couldn't say it. "Did you find her?"

Stephen swallowed and cleared his throat. This wasn't going to be easy. "I… I did. About two years after the letters stopped, I found out she was undercover working for the agent who had the Intersect. We… we used to call him 'Agent X.' Anyway, her mission was to destroy his company–which had grown enormously in the following years of the upload–from the inside, and after years of work, she finally found the information the CIA needed. They ordered an air strike. She was supposed to be out of the building, but Hart… Agent X fell in love with her and asked her to join him in the gardens for a walk that night. She couldn't get out in time." A lump formed in Chuck's throat as he saw tears in his dad's eyes. "When they found her, she was still breathing, but she never woke up." Stephen was openly crying now. "I… I got to see her one last time. I got to tell her how sorry I was, how I wished things were different and how I hoped she could forgive me sometime. She… passed away three days later."

Chuck didn't know what to do or say. He had spent fifteen years angry at his parents for leaving him and now that he finally knew the truth, he didn't know how to feel. His mom was dead and, if his impression was correct, his father was running away from the CIA. And he still hadn't told him why he had come to see him. "I…" he cleared his throat and forced himself to swallow the lump on it. "Can I see her? I mean," he quickly amended, "I'd like to know where she is… I'd like to say goodbye."

Stephen looked at his son and silently nodded. "Of course. She was buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery."

"Ok," Chuck breathed. "Ok," he repeated, more to his own reaffirmation than anything. He closed his eyes for a moment. The pain he was feeling right now didn't have anything to do with the tranq dart from before. He had never lost anyone close to him and he didn't know how to deal with it. He needed to think about something else. He remembered something. "So you said you were here to help me?" he asked, hoping that the change of subject would calm the ache, at least momentarily.

"Yes." Stephen stood up and started pacing around. "You need to watch your back, Charles. Working for the CIA is not safe. You can't trust anybody, not even your partners."

"What are you …?"

"You are the Intersect, Charles. You are the most valuable intelligence asset the Agency's ever had and they are not going to simply let you go when you get tired of this life. Once you're in, there's no way out, unless you're willing to do what I did, and trust me, that is not the life you'd want to lead." He stopped his pacing and turned to face him. "Before I left, I was working on a way to get the Intersect out of the human brain, and I think I finally figured it out."

Chuck frowned. "But that wasn't in your notes… I went over them a thousand times and I never saw anything that indicated the possibility of taking it out."

Chuck was surprised when his dad shot him an offended look. "You don't think I was stupid enough to leave _all_ my notes behind, do you?"

"I… I just thought… I mean you _did_ leave clues as to how to build the Intersect."

"Notes that nobody understood until they made you look at them," he pointed out with pride.

Uncomfortable with the sudden praise, Chuck blushed. "Well, I mean… it wasn't that hard. Anybody could've done it."

Stephen smiled. "And that's where you're wrong. You think nobody tried before you?" He took a step closer. "You're special, son. And you're smarter than any CIA scientist. It's in your genes." He winked at Chuck. "Anyway, as I was saying, the safest option right now is to get the Intersect out of your head. That way, you're not a threat and you can go back to your normal life."

Chuck frowned. "Wait, wait a second. You want me to stop being an agent?"

"Yeah."

"But what if I don't want to? What if I actually like it?" he asked.

Stephen reassumed his pacing. "Charles… it's too dangerous. I don't want my son to have the life that I had. It may seem exciting now, but I'm telling you, it will only bring you unhappiness. I should know."

"But dad, you don't understand. I'm finally doing something that counts. I can help people! I can actually make a difference. How many people can say that? And I do trust my partners. They are brave, loyal people who would never betray their country," Chuck said.

"Exactly!" said Stephen, suddenly turning to face him again. "What if one day someone tells them you're a threat to national security and orders them to kill you?"

"Oh, come on, they would never…"

"You _just_ said they would never betray their country. Going against a direct order is treason and you know it. Do you really think Major Casey would commit treason just to save your life? Do you honestly think agent Sarah Walker, _Graham's wild card enforcer_ is going to disobey her savior's order?"

"I… I don't know." He thought about it for a moment. Both Sarah and Casey were good people, loyal to their country, but also loyal to their partners. He knew them, and he had seen how Sarah had reacted when Graham had mentioned the new Intersect. "Look, I know you said I shouldn't trust them but I consider them my friends. Besides, Graham already told me that I could still work for the CIA and I'm not planning on quitting any time soon, so I'm safe. And if I ever do… then I'll give you a call."

"He… he offered you a job?" Stephen asked, shocked. "But the CIA is building a new Intersect…"

"Yes, he did. And if you must know, my partners were worried about what might happen to me, but the Director said he was pleased with my performance in the field, so I could stay, even if the Intersect wasn't supposed to go in my head in the first place." Stephen looked genuinely surprised and somewhat pleased. Suddenly, Chuck realized something. "Wait… how do you know the CIA's building a new one?"

"The same way I know FULCRUM has stolen the cipher because they have built their own Intersect and they need that final piece to upload it in their agents."

Chuck couldn't believe it. Maybe his dad _had_ lost it after all. "What are you talking about, dad?"

"I'm talking about FULCRUM's plan to create an army and taking down the government. And don't look at me like that, I'm telling you the truth."

Chuck eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean? What do you know?"

Stephen sighed. "They have Ted Roark working with them."

"Ted Roark? The software genius?" Chuck asked incredulously.

"Yes. And he's not a genius, trust me on that. He stole most of my designs and then patented them."

_That's it, he's definitely lost it_, Chuck thought. "_Your_ designs? You know this man?"

"Of course I know him, we went to college together. But that's not the point," Stephen replied dismissively. "Once they get the cipher Roark is going to get his army and they are going to win. There's nothing we can do about it, and it's not our fight. Please, just let me get the Intersect out of your head, son."

"Dad, if anything you're saying right now is remotely true, which I doubt, I need to know so I can do something about it."

"Charles, please, listen to me…"

Chuck cut him off. "Dad, look. I appreciate that you're worried about my safety, but if you really want to help, you need to tell me everything you know about FULCRUM's plans."

"I'm not going to convince you, am I?" Stephen asked dejectedly.

Chuck shook his head. "No, you're not."

Stephen let out a sigh and plopped onto the nearest chair. "You're just as stubborn as your mother," he mumbled.

Chuck smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

The comment elicited a chuckle from his dad. "Ok, then. Here's what I know: Roark's been communicating with FULCRUM agents for the past six months. I hacked into Roark's servers a couple of months ago when I found out that _someone_ had been searching for Orion." He gave Chuck a significant look as he continued. "Although I quickly discovered he wasn't the one that had triggered the alert I couldn't resist the temptation of snooping a little and I accessed this series of coded messages and money transfers. When I dug deeper, I learned that Roark had recently acquired a large building and had it remodeled in record time, and then sent a message to a FULCRUM letting them know 'everything was set'."

Chuck had listened carefully to every word, but he was still skeptic. "Dad, that doesn't prove they have an Intersect…"

"Think about it, Charles, why else would they be in contact?"

"Oh, I don't know… maybe because Roark is the world's largest software provider," he said sarcastically. "Look, I'm not saying he's not doing anything illegal, clearly, if he's related to FULCRUM we should look into his business, but we can't assume he's actually helping them to create an Intersect."

Stephen sighed. "Ok. I'll prove it to you."

Chuck's frown intensified. "How? Dad, you're a fugitive, if FULCRUM or the CIA find out you've been digging into their stuff, they are going to be pissed."

"Oh, please, Charles. I've been doing this since before you were born. And if anything, this is your fault. I wouldn't have learned anything of this if you hadn't started that search."

"Wha…? Oh." Everything made sense to Chuck now. "Of course. It was you who deleted the files from the CIA data base."

Stephen shrugged. "I couldn't risk being found."

Chuck smiled. "Well, the CIA related the search program I wrote with the erasing of the files and blamed it all on me. That's how they found me in the first place. And that's how they had access to the Intersect's schematics."

"So everything's _my_ fault," Stephen said guiltily.

Chuck looked at his father. He seemed so tired and miserable that it was impossible for Chuck to stay mad at him. "Hey," he said as he reached out and put a comforting hand on his dad's shoulder. "If you must know, you kind of saved me. I was having a bad time and even if the circumstances of me joining the Agency were far from ideal, it was a big change for me. A good one."

"You have to believe, this is not what I wanted for you, Charles. I'm really sorry about everything."

"I know, dad. I know. But I'm happy now. I have a real, important job and I'm finally back on my feet. Hey, I even reconnected with an old high school friend!"

Stephen smirked. "Oh, yes. Little Jenny Burton, right?"

Chuck's eyes widened. "How do you…? So you know Sarah's…? How?"

"It's what I do, Chuck. Plus, just because I wasn't there doesn't mean I didn't know what was going on with you and your sister."

"Wow. That's really considerate, and so very creepy. Please, tell me you're not still spying on us…"

Stephen chuckled. "No, I'm not. Don't worry. It's just, when I learned you had the Intersect, I wanted to know who you were going to be partnered with. So I did an extensive background check on both Agent Walker and Major Casey. One of the many aliases of con-man daughter Sarah Walker was Jennifer Burton, who lived in Burbank for a few months about eight years ago. Then I pulled out your high school records and found out you had been classmates."

Chuck couldn't decide whether to be impressed or just freaked out. "Seriously, dad, so, _so_ creepy."

Stephen ignored his comment and grinned. "Anyway, what are you going to get her?"

"What?" Chuck asked, confused.

"Oh, I see you don't know. It's her birthday tomorrow. Her _real_ birthday."

"Really?" Chuck couldn't believe how lucky he was to get that information, as bizarre as the circumstances were, for he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he had found out it had been her birthday and he hadn't given his girlfriend the special day she deserved.

Stephen shrugged. "That's what her file said."

"And you just happen to remember that?"

Stephen just shrugged. "Thanks, dad. I didn't know," Chuck said, grinning. He was already planning everything in his mind.

Stephen smiled too when he noticed his enthusiasm. "I'm glad I could help." He knew that, after everything that had happened between them, he didn't have the right to want a normal relationship with his son, but he could at least try. "So… I've gathered that you like this girl?"

Chuck blushed a little and looked up. It was all so surreal he almost laughed. In a little over than an hour, his father had showed up, tranqued him, tied him to a chair, finally explained why he and his mother had left all those years ago, and unveiled a conspiracy against the US government to him, and now he was asking him about a girl. "I… yeah. We're together. I mean, it's kind of recent, but we are taking it slow and…" He inhaled and realized this was the first real conversation he had had with his father in his whole life. _So this is how it was supposed to be_, he thought. He chuckled and looked his father in the eye. "It's really good to see you, dad."

Stephen grinned. "It's good to see you too, son." 

* * *

><p>A couple of hours after his father left, promising to find a way to keep in touch, Chuck got a call from Casey. When he crossed the hallway in his way to the Major's apartment, he spotted Sarah coming out of the elevator. They shared a smile and immediately sobered up when the door opened. As soon as they got in, Casey informed them that the CIA had learned the cipher's drop was going to take place that night in a local restaurant. Their mission would be to retrieve it and apprehend Leader and the mole.<p>

"Is everything ok?" Sarah's voice brought him back from his musings. He was conflicted about telling his partners about the surprise visit he'd had a few hours ago. He knew he could trust them, but he didn't want to put them in the position to have to lie to their superiors.

"Uh… yeah, yeah. Just a little distracted, that's all." He smiled a little, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Sarah eyed him. "Chuck…"

He sighed. And he caved. "Ok. There's… there's something I need to tell you. But you have to promise me you're not going to tell the bosses."

"Carmichael, if this is a National Emergency issue…" Casey started, but he was soon interrupted by Chuck.

"It's not. Well, at least I don't think so. I really don't know and that's kind of the thing… until we're sure, we can't let the bosses know."

"And why is that?" Casey half grunted.

"Because they would not stop until they arrest the person who gave me this information."

"Chuck, who gave you whatever information you're talking about?" Sarah asked.

Chuck swallowed and looked her in the eye. "My dad. He kind of stopped by today." 

* * *

><p>After he told them everything about his dad's visit and what he had said about Roark and FULCRUM, Casey and Sarah were just as skeptical as he had been the first time he'd heard it, but they still agreed they wouldn't say anything to Graham and Beckman until Orion made contact again.<p>

Casey announced he was going to get changed for the mission after taking a quick glance to his watch and unceremoniously guided them to the door. Before they knew what had happened, Sarah and Chuck found themselves in the middle of the hallway.

"So, I guess I should go change too…" Chuck said. "I'm assuming we'll meet at the restaurant?"

Sarah took a step closer to him, smiling when she saw him swallow. "Actually, I didn't know how long this meeting was going to be, so I brought my clothes here. I figured you wouldn't mind if I changed at your place?"

Just the thought of Sarah undressing in his room made his pulse race, so Chuck forced himself to focus and take his mind out of the gutter. It was just a mission and they were taking things slow. What the hell had he been thinking when he'd agreed to that? Oh, no, he hadn't agreed… he had been the genius that came up with the brilliant idea. _Enough, Bartowski, stop being an ass_. He couldn't help but stutter a little when he answered, "Uh… no, no. I mean, of course you can… change at my place. It was a good idea… I mean, you always think of everything…"

She smiled and couldn't help herself as she said, "Well, you know what they say… 'Spies always come prepared'."

She kind of expected him to blush and start rambling nervously, but was surprised—and a little turned on, to be honest—when he smiled and replied in a sultry tone, "That's good to know."

Figuring it wouldn't be the best idea to jump him there in the hallway, she mumbled something about going to get her dress out of her car and almost ran to the elevator.

Satisfied by her reaction, Chuck got into his apartment and started to get ready himself. He was in the shower when he heard Sarah getting into the apartment and letting him know it was her. Five minutes later, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself, wrapping the towel securely around his hips. He made his way to his bedroom and found Sarah fumbling with a coat hanger.

She seemed to notice his presence because she turned around saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't want the dress to get wrinkled so I came here to… to…" Her mouth went dry and her heart pounded when she saw him standing there, his crazy, wet hair making impossible shapes and him wearing only a towel—quite loosely, she mentally added. Luckily, her brain decided to work again and it reminded her they had a mission in a little more than an hour and there was no time for her to do _any_ of the things she wanted to do at that particular time.

"Yeah, no problem." Chuck smiled, and she got the distinctive feeling that he knew exactly what she was thinking. She blushed a little as he continued, "The shower's ready, in case you need to use it. There are towels in the counter next to the bathtub and you can use my bathrobe."

"Thanks, Chuck," she said and headed to the bathroom without looking at him again. She was going to need that shower. A cold one, too. 

* * *

><p>Forty minutes later, Sarah was in front of the mirror applying her makeup. Which should've been an easy task, but Chuck's mirror was a <em>guys<em>' mirror and not like the one she had at her apartment. Also, she was currently wearing his bathrobe, which smelled like him and it was making her unable to focus.

Ever the gentleman, Chuck had lent her his own room to get changed. As she entered the room, she thought it was kind of fair, considering he'd been done in about 12 minutes. As she slipped into the short, blue dress, she heard the TV playing in the living room. Taking a quick glance at her watch, she realized it was almost time to head out. She went to the bathroom and looked herself in the mirror one last time, smiling satisfied at the result of almost an hour's work.

She headed to the living room and stood right behind the couch. She cleared her throat, because obviously, Chuck hadn't heard her. He jumped a little at the noise and quickly turned around, and she soon knew all the time she had just spent had been worth it.

Chuck knew he was gawking, but he couldn't help it. She looked absolutely stunning. Before his brain could catch up, he jumped off the couch and made his way towards her in about two strides. She looked flushed for some reason, but he didn't stop to think about it. If he didn't kiss her right now, he was going to die. So he did, and she wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body into his. He finally pulled back and was able to clumsily mumble, "You look beautiful."

She smiled brightly at the compliment and ran her thumb through his lips, in an attempt to clean the lipstick trail she had left. "So do you."

Chuck laughed and leaned in again, but the loud knock on the door stopped him midway. "Come on, you two, we're gonna be late."

He sighed heavily. "I guess that's duty calling."

Sarah nodded, not trusting her voice just yet and ran a hand through his chest, straightening his shirt. After fixing his tie, she finally spoke. "Ok, then. Let's go get them." 

* * *

><p>Again, Casey was pissed. He had been in this business for almost twenty years and he was suddenly relegated to bartending. He was a marine, for crying out loud, he should've been the one to make the bust, but here he was, behind the counter, missing all the fun. Ignoring the call of a middle-aged, brunette woman, he spoke into his watch. "Are you two in position? He's supposed to show up any time now."<p>

"Yes, Casey," he heard Sarah's faux sweet tone in his ear. "We've been in position since we arrived, thirty minutes ago."

He grunted his response and finally took the order from that woman. He watched his partners, sitting in a table in the corner opposite to the entrance. He suspected he'd caught them in the middle of something earlier, because they were both flushed when they left the apartment and avoided to talk or look at each other while driving to the restaurant. _Good for them_, he vaguely thought, as he shook the cocktail shaker. They were both good kids and they seemed to like each other. He just hoped they wouldn't screw up any missions they might have in the future, including that night's.

At exactly 7:03, the rogue agent known as "Leader" got into the location and headed to an empty table situated in the darkest corner of the restaurant. Casey heard Chuck letting him know they had seen him and were ready to move if anything happened. He nodded in his direction, and watched as Leader took a seat and ordered a drink. About ten minutes later, a blond guy joined him and ordered a beer. He heard Chuck's voice again, this time telling him he'd flashed, and that the guy's name was Tyler Jones and he was a CIA agent, and most likely, the mole. Leader and him were talking amicably and he ordered a beer. At some point, Casey saw them exchanging the restaurant's menus and alerted his partners.

"We saw them, Casey," Sarah confirmed. "We'll wait until they leave to follow them and make the arrest."

Casey grunted again, knowing he would have to keep serving drinks until those two traitors decided to leave. Luckily, they didn't seem to be very hungry, because after another ten minutes, they paid the check and stood up, heading for the door. Chuck and Sarah noticed and stood up as well, giving them a little lead, not wanting to blow up their covers. As soon as they got out of the restaurant, they noticed Leader and Jones talking, but kept walking anyway. "Casey, they're behind us," Chuck threw an arm around Sarah's shoulders and took the opportunity to look back, "I think they're going to split up."

"Copy. I see them. I got Leader, you get Jones. I think he's turning left in the next corner."

At that moment, Sarah tripped and Jones bumped into her. "Oh, my God, I am so sorry, sir," she said. "I'm just a little tipsy, you know," she smiled.

He smiled back, although it didn't reach his eyes and said, "No problem," as he kept walking.

Chuck and Sarah exchanged a look and, after she nodded, he took out his tranq gun and pointed it at him. "Tyler Jones, CIA. I need you to come with us."

Jones, caught by surprise, did the only thing he could think about. He ran. Chuck sighed and went after him, "Why would he do that?"

"My guess is he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in jail," Sarah answered, following him closely although her heels weren't making the task so easy.

"Well, he should've thought twice before committing treason, don't you think?" Chuck aimed his gun at the now fugitive's back and shot three darts, just to be sure. Jones' body slumped and crashed to the pavement, passed out instantly and Chuck winced at the thud. Sarah darted over to search him.

"He's clear," she said, as she took his gun and cuffed him.

Chuck talked into his watch. "Casey, we got him, he's clear. Leader's the one with the cipher."

The Major's voice answered in his ear. "I know, I just caught him. I got the cipher _and_ the perp, see you at the van."

"Uhm, I actually had to tranq Jones, so would you mind picking us up? I think someone might be alarmed if they saw a young couple dragging a seemingly dead dude on the streets."

Casey heard Sarah's chuckle and smiled a little himself. "Figures. Stay where you are, I'll be there in five minutes."

True to his word, he was there in three. Both Graham and Beckman were delighted about the success of the mission. Graham informed them the Intersect upload was going to take place the next day. After congratulating the team again, they finally dismissed them. As Sarah's car was still parked in front of Chuck and Casey's building, the three of them drove back together. As soon as he got out of the car, the Major bade them a good night and left them standing next to Sarah's Porsche.

"Well, that was fun." As usual, it was Chuck who broke the silence.

"Yeah. You were pretty badass with you tranq gun and everything," she said.

Chuck grinned. "And you were pretty badass yourself, tripping like that and pretending to be drunk."

She chuckled but quickly sobered up. "So I guess it's really happening. They're uploading the Intersect tomorrow."

"I guess they are. But you don't have to worry about me. I'm safe, Graham said it himself," he took a step closer. "I still have a job and you're still in my team," he added, winking at her.

She pretended to be offended. "Oh, so now it's _your_ team, Bartwoski!"

"Well, I am the one with the computer in his brain, so…" She chuckled and he put his arms around her waist. He kissed her lightly. "You were amazing tonight. I couldn't have asked for a better partner, Sarah."

She smiled, touched by his words. "Me neither, Chuck. We make a pretty good team, I'd say."

He nodded, a grin taking over his face. He suddenly remembered the information his dad had provided, and he cleared his throat. "Hey, uh… since we don't have a mission in the foreseeable future, what do you say if we go out… let's say, tomorrow night?"

Sarah eyed him suspiciously, but let it go. "I'd love to," she said, kissing him again. Things quickly escalated, and soon they were both pulling back for air.

He swallowed before he spoke. "Good. So I'll pick you up around seven, if that's ok?"

Still breathing heavily, she nodded. "Yeah, yeah, that's fine."

He reluctantly let her go. "Great. I'll see you then."

She smiled as she got into her car, although she didn't really want to go anywhere right now. "Good night, Chuck."

"Good night, Sarah."

She watched him wave through the rear mirror as she left. If that last kiss proved anything, was that she was not at all immune at the Bartowski charm, and that was a nice way of putting it, since she found it hard not to jump him every time she had the chance. And she had been dumb enough to agree to take things slow. She sighed, frustrated. She had no idea how the hell she was going to survive a whole date with Chuck Bartowski. 

* * *

><p>At exactly 6:58 pm, Chuck was about to knock on Sarah's door when she opened it. How did she keep doing that? He was about to ask her when he finally looked at her. "Wow, Sarah… you look amazing."<p>

She smiled brightly at the compliment, glad he liked the casual outfit she had picked for the night. She studied him and her smile broadened even more when she noticed he was wearing his black Chucks. She gave him a quick kiss and said, "So do you. Shall we?"

He chuckled a little at her response, but chose not to comment. Instead, he answered, "Yeah, of course." He offered her his arm, and she gladly intertwined hers with his.

He took her to a nice, yet not too fancy restaurant. Judging by the look on Sarah's face, he had been right to choose that place and not another, more expensive one. He didn't feel the need to impress her, he just wanted her to have fun and enjoy her birthday, and, with any luck, his company.

Sarah was having a great time. The place Chuck had chosen was perfect. It was good to know he was still the same guy and wasn't trying to woo her with fancy dinners and expensive gifts like a few others had tried before him. He was just being him and she wouldn't have had it any other way. As always, he proved to be a perfect gentleman, opening doors and pulling her chair out for her. And, of course, he was more than a little entertaining when it came to conversation. He told her a lot of stories from his childhood and college time, and together, they remembered a lot of high school ones. Aside from the strong feelings she obviously had for him, she was relieved to know they were still friends and could talk without feeling awkward or uncomfortable. She conveniently chose to forget the first couple of times she had seen him as Sarah Walker, rather than Jenny Burton.

It was getting kind of late and they were the last two people in the restaurant, so Chuck asked for the bill and left a generous tip when he paid. That was his way of apologizing to the very gentle waiter for keeping him working that late. They made their way to the car hand in hand, and as he was about to open the door for Sarah, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. He wasted no time to respond, having wanted to do just that for hours.

"Thank you, Chuck. I had a really great time." Sarah said, smiling.

"Hey, isn't that what you're supposed to say when I'm walking you to your apartment so I get to kiss you good night?" he joked.

"Oh, I plan on saying it again, don't worry. I just wanted you to know that this is the best date I've ever had."

He grinned, pleased. That was what he was aiming for. "Well, it is my pleasure, trust me." He kissed her again and opened the car door for her. Sarah smiled at his chivalry as she sat in the passenger's seat. Normally, she wouldn't appreciate those little gestures, but coming from Chuck they seemed so natural and well intentioned that she couldn't do anything but enjoy them.

She was quiet on the ride home. Chuck was dying to know what she was thinking, but he told himself that, if she wanted him to know, she would tell him. He was almost sure he hadn't done anything to upset her, but he was still sweating a little. Without turning his head, he took a quick glance at her, and sighed in relief when he saw she was smiling, her head resting against the window. He noticed her left hand resting on her thigh, and when he finally mustered up the courage to do it, took her hand in his. She just smiled wider and squeezed it. Her comforting touch was enough to calm him for the rest of the way.

Sarah looked at their joined hands. She knew it was crazy, that they had _just_ reconnected, but everything felt so right... He had been a great friend and a perfect gentleman, and he made her feel things she never thought she would. He had accepted her for who she was, eight years ago and now, and he'd never pushed her to do anything. And then, he went even further and gave her the best birthday she could've asked for, although there was a good chance that he didn't even know that.

She waited in her seat, knowing it was pointless to argue as Chuck made his way to her door to open it. They walked into her building and got into the elevator, their hands linked once again. When they were standing in front of her apartment, she fidgeted with her keys and finally asked, "Would you like to come in for some coffee?"

He grinned. "I'd love to."

She opened the door, suddenly a little nervous, and turned on the lights. Her eyes widened as she just stood there. She heard the door closing and felt Chuck's arms snaking around her waist, hugging her from behind. His breath has hot in her ear when he whispered, "Happy birthday, Sarah."

She turned around to face him, with a shocked look on her face. "How did you…?"

He smiled. "My dad told me yesterday. He read your file and…" Noticing her slight frown, he quickly clarified, "Don't worry, that's the only thing he told me, I swear." He felt her relax in his embrace.

"But how did you manage to… do all of this?" she asked, pointing at the giant vase of gardenias that was set on the table, the champagne in ice and the box wrapped in bright blue paper and adorned with a big, white ribbon.

"As much as I'd love to say that I possess the gift of ubiquity, I have to admit I had a little help." She just stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He finally gave in. "Carina."

That only added to her astonishment. "Carina?" she asked, unable to keep the incredulous tone out of the question.

He chuckled. "Yeah, you know. She's pretty cool, once you learn to ignore how scary and inappropriate she can be. When I called her and told her about my plan, she was on board."

"Wow." Sarah was seriously impressed with all the trouble Chuck had gone through just to surprise her. "So I take it she broke into my place while we were at the restaurant?"

"Yeah. She ran a little late, because she arrived this afternoon from Chile. But everything went according to the plan, as far as I can see."

"Oh yeah?" Sarah said, disentangling herself from his embrace and walking towards the table, to examine the flowers. She took a meaningful look at the champagne and turned to face him. "And this plan… consisted of what, exactly?"

Chuck's eyes widened when he understood what she was implying. He took a few steps closer to the table and handed her the blue box. "I believe you'll find the answer here."

She looked at him with an arched eyebrow, having fun making him squirm. "Ok… but if I find a leather suit and a whip you're gonna be in trouble, mister," she teased.

Chuck choked on air and blushed furiously. He started to mumble something when he saw her smile brightly.

"Aladdin, Ferris Bueller's day off and The Matrix?" she inquired.

"Yeah, I mean, those first two were your favorite back in high school and The Matrix is awesome. I was thinking we could do the whole 'dinner and movie' thing but we could also have some champagne to celebrate your birthday."

"And eat some chocolate and listen to 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire too?" she asked, pulling the box of chocolate and the CD out of the box.

"Oh, no, those are just yours," he said with an adorable smile. "So, what do you say? Are you in the mood to watch some of the greatest movies ever made?"

Sarah looked at the DVDs lying on the table, along with the chocolate and the CD. Only Chuck would give her all that stuff. She half expected to find a comic book too, but he hadn't let himself get too excited, apparently. Her sight focused on the flowers, and she decided that no, she wasn't in the mood to watch any movies right now. Taking a step closer to him, she slowly shook her head. "Not really."

He tried not to look too disappointed as he shrugged. "Oh, ok, that's fine. Some other time, maybe. It's getting kind of late anyway…" he started to walk towards the door, but she stood in his way. She smiled when she saw his frown. "Sarah, I…" for once, she wasn't interested in what he had to say. So she shut him up in the only way it had ever seemed to work. Chuck quickly responded to her kiss and soon, he was pressing her to the door.

"I think we should be heading the other way," she said, slightly out of breath, pointing to the hallway across the room with her head.

Chuck looked in that direction and finally, he understood. She could almost see the light bulb above his head. He audibly gulped. "But Sarah… we said…" she kissed him again and made sure to make it clear that she didn't care what they had said. "Are you… are sure about this?" he asked, pulling back. She nodded and couldn't help but smile when a grin took over his face. This time, when she kissed him, he didn't protest. 

* * *

><p>A few miles away, Director Langston Graham was standing in the middle of a white room, ten carefully selected CIA agents next to him. He watched as two scientists placed the cipher in the core of the Intersect and then left the room. He typed the password only he knew and quickly put on his specially designed sunglasses. He pressed enter and as soon as the images started to appear, he knew something was very, very wrong. He looked at the screen in front of him and clenched his teeth for what was coming when he read the message on it.<p>

_FULCRUM thanks you._

"Shit..." 

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm aware that "Funeral" didn't come out until September 2004, but in this alterative universe it came out sooner. I loved that reference on the show and I just wanted to use it.

Please, leave a review and let me know your thoughts about this one. I'm working on chapter 4 of Sarah vs. the Nerd, in case you're following that one as well.

Until next time.


End file.
